Week3 Activity-Leading in times of change and complexity

Develop and articulate ideas for describing leading change in an organization.
What can we learn from Fullan's framework?

Qi Yang (Carol):

The main leading idea for leading changes in IKEA is innovative or creative thoughts. Expect from the increasingly emphasis on sustainability, IKEA changed a lot in technology innovation. From introducing new technology and broadening the product portfolio to positioning the brand and deepening customer relationships, there are several key drivers gaining widespread attention. Today’s two main technological sources of innovation are the on-line provisions market and an improved supply-chain-focused technology such as smart tags. Both are addressing improved efficiency of goods supply and provision, but there are also areas of consumer-focused innovation around convenience and traceability. In terms of broadening the product mix, the migration of food to general product supply has been followed by service development using the retailer brand as the focal point. Starting with a limited range of joint venture financial products, this has spread to loans, insurance, holidays, car retail and even energy supply, virtual mobile phone operations and real estate. All are usually delivered in partnership with leading existing suppliers, but are positioned around the increasing levels of trust that consumers have with their favorite retailer brand.

Inspired by IKEA, many retailers are using the migration of their loyalty cards into their joint venture services and relationships to gain new information about their wider customer base that feeds into detailed segmentation analysis and opportunities for cross selling. Retailers can now find out what their customers spend their money on outside the store and can use this to develop new branded-service propositions and improve the levels of cross selling between groups. Together, these are all providing the leading retailers with the opportunity to take consumer-centric innovation to a whole new level. IKEA has been able to understand change and anticipate the needs of a society that has become more complex. Its high degree of simplicity and easy communication with existing and potential customers is a great asset and a reflection on having coherence making and relationship building as their core company values.

According to Fullan's 2001 framework for leadership, there are 5 facets contributing to successful leadership the organization.
•  Moral Purpose: When making changes, leaders in IKEA take the wider community and wider context into consideration. The “sustainable theme” in designing furniture fit the global development trend. It benefits not only the whole society but also every people on earth include the staffs. The change is mutual benefit.
•  Understanding Change: The leaders in each department understand the reasons and strategies for change well. Their controlling is effective.
•  Relationship Building: The harmonious working environment in IKEA is well known all around the world. Relationship among staffs and managers are pleasant. Communication, collaboration and cooperation work well in the organization that contributes to successful change.
•  Knowledge Creation and Sharing: Top managers in IKEA keep building constant refinement of knowledge base. Through smooth and frequent meetings, conferences and seminars, information is distributed efficiently in the whole organization among different sectors.
•  Coherence Making: Instead of separated management, executive manager regard different subdivisions as a whole. Every change takes all their requirements into consideration to make it cohesion. Fullan’s framework of leadership does contribute to its successful change. 

He Yingying (Helena):

The HSBC’s innovation is mainly focused on advances in technology in every aspect. First technology changes the way banks and customers interact. The customers can obtain the information about the products and services quickly, and make decisions instantly. HSBC even has its own fibre optic cable which is self managed. This allows HSBC to transfer data so quickly to save time in order to make the most of the advantages. Second, technology enables the customers to use their products and service through multiple channels. In the past, customers could only visit the bank branches during the set hours by themselves. Today, they can use their computers, phones and even television to obtain the service. Last, the security problem comes out with the presence of IT technology. HSBC applies different security techniques in different markets. As in Hong Kong, HSBC uses token-based authentication to ensure the financial operations safety.

HSBC takes these innovative steps to keep up with the trend and even leading the trend. In a tense financial market, HSBC try to be more competitive and be more customer centric. In order to further satisfy the needs of different customers HSBC launched Customer Relationship Management Systems to reach out to individual customers with products and services tailored to their specific needs. They realize that it is more cost effective to keep the existing customers than to acquire new ones. The system helps the bankers to manage and keep track of the records and consider creative ways to stimulate the customers to consume. 

Connecting HSBC’s leadership with Fullan’s 2001 framework for leadership:

l  Moral Purpose: HSBC’s leadership decision contributes to the positive development of the whole corporation in the future, which in return would benefit the professional development of the stuff as a whole.

l  Understanding Change: HSBC as a banking corporation, the most essential task for it is to identify the new trend and make relevant change.

l  Relationship Building: The reason why HSBC has developed so successful and promote its strategy so smoothly is that the leaders of almost every department try their best to build good relationship among the stuff to ensure the purposeful interaction and problem solving.

l  Knowledge Creation and Sharing: HSBC constantly host various seminars to share and discuss the professional information.

l  Coherence Making: Nothing is more important than the persistence of the decision or policy. The coherence stimulates the sustainable development of the corporation.

Waiyan Yanny Sit:

From Fullan’s framework, I learn that his model for change is based around the internal factors of the organization. The five components, moral purpose, understanding change, relationship building, knowledge building, knowledge creation and sharing and coherence making can be grouped in three categories, which are enthusiasm, hope and energy. The leaders play a crucial role in the organization.

1- The leaders must believe that the change will make a positive difference.

2- Be knowledgeable of the change process.

3- Has good interpersonal skills. Be able to bond with the employees

4- The leader must also be able to encourage communication and knowledge exchange so they can learn from each other and build on their prior knowledge. In order to motivate staff in this change process, the leader must have a clear understanding of the change so

5- Are rational and are able to recognize values that are worth retaining.

Yike Wang (Daisy):

Wal-Mart has begun rolling out its first applications and process changes based on Radio frequency identification data at the original seven Wal-Mart stores in Texas that were outfitted with PFID readers. The aim of the application is to reduce out-of-stocks by providing visibility into the location of goods with RFID tags. However, the company has installed RFID readers at the receiving docks at the back room of the building, near the trash compactors and between the back room and the retail floor. For the cases of goods that are shipped to the stores with RFID tags, Wal-Mart records their arrival by reading the tag on each case and then reads the tags again before the cases are brought out to the sales floor.

Fullan’s framework for leadership in Wal-Mart leadership:

As for Fullan’s framework, there has five factors: Moral purpose, understanding change, relationship building, knowledge creation and sharing, coherence making. All of those factors indicate that leadership plays a significant role in it. Form that we can obvious knowing that firstly leaders should find out the main purpose to develop a strategy and believes that it will make sense. Secondly, understanding how the strategy processing not only around the leadership but also through the employees. The last is about the strategy development sustaining.

Tang Lu (Theresa) 
        The main leading change for KFC is the ever-changing menu, but the inside concept for the change is the modification organization make in cater to the target customers' dietary habit. From limited service hours to provide 24 hours service, to add "rice" into the all burgers and chicken menu, every drops of change in KFC is for providing a eating culture for the customers, therefore, there is no obvious change technically for the KFC, but every change originated from one particular reason.
     

        Other than Peter Senge' principles for organizational learning, Fullan has also came up with 5 factors contributing successful leadership the organization. Good leadership is a one of the key factors to conduct change in an organization which can be a great force for fulfilling the target of the change.

•  Moral Purpose: acting with intention of making a positive difference in the lives of those in the organisation as a whole. Actually, whether the leader is having a moral purpose or not can be told from the decisions they make, which is sustainable or not? The leaders in KFC have to have a moral purpose which they do have, for in order to stay a good competitive position in the fast food market, the ability for staying a long-term success. For example, every time when the leader are about to make a change in some policy,regulation or market plan, they will first take the the benefits of their employees into consideration, and they will hold up the staff meeting first to inform the up coming change.

•  Understanding Change: Change is a slow process and normally it will meet setbacks. If leaders can not understand the change, then there is no way for them to conduct the change in the organization, to explain the benefit that change that bring to staffs. Understanding the change is the very significant way to conduct the leadership.
•  Relationship Building: “Effective leaders constantly foster purposeful interaction and problem solving, and are wary of easy consenus.” First, understanding the change is the first step for building the relationship. A harmonious working environment is playing an essential role in a building a good learning organization and the   necessary part of composing a good leadership.
•  Knowledge Creation and Sharing: Leaders need to commit themselves to generating and increasing knowledge inside and outside the organization. Knowledge created must be shared with others. Sharing is a good way to build a relationship. In any situation, creation is helping a person or an organization keep alive. Needless to say, knowledge keeps change every seconds too. And sharing is one of part of good relationship building, in other words, a part of good leadership. KFC behaves very well on these two, annually department career training and emotion sharing party monthly, which are highly praised parts among every staffs.
•  Coherence Making: when leaders make incoherence decisions will cause disturbances among staffs, for they will be confused about their next moves. Even if leaders give the explanation afterwords, the original passion will no longer exists.