Unit 4: Transforming a business

8 dot points, in syllabus order. Each dot point has a focused answer, with exam-style questions and worked answers where available.

Area of Study 1: What forces drive and restrain change in a business?

Forces for change - driving forces (owners, managers, employees, customers, competitors, suppliers, technology, globalisation, innovation, legislation, societal attitudes, pursuit of profit, reduction of costs) and restraining forces (managers, employees, time, organisational inertia, financial considerations, legislation) - and proactive versus reactive approaches to change

Forces for change. The named driving forces (owners, managers, employees, customers, competitors, suppliers, technology, globalisation, innovation, legislation, societal attitudes), the restraining forces, internal versus external sources, and proactive versus reactive approaches.

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Area of Study 1: How do managers position a business for the future?

Porter's generic strategies - lower cost and differentiation - as approaches to strategic management, and their use in positioning a business to respond to driving forces for change

Porter's generic strategies. Porter's two approaches to strategic management - lower cost and differentiation - how each positions a business to respond to driving forces for change, the danger of being stuck in the middle, and how the strategies link to operations and change, with worked Australian examples.

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Area of Study 1: How do managers identify the need for change?

Key performance indicators - percentage of market share, net profit figures, rate of productivity growth, number of sales, rates of staff absenteeism, level of staff turnover, level of wastage, number of customer complaints, number of workplace accidents - and their interpretation; Lewin's force field analysis of driving and restraining forces of change

KPIs and the need for change. The nine VCAA-named KPIs and their interpretation, Lewin's force field analysis of driving and restraining forces, with worked Australian examples from Telstra's T25 strategy and Coles's automated DC transformation.

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Area of Study 2: How do managers communicate effectively with employees and stakeholders during change?

Communication during change - the role and purpose of communication, the audiences (employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders, community, regulators), the channels (town-halls, internal newsletters, intranet, direct manager briefings, media releases, customer notices), and the principles of effective change communication

Communication during change. The role and purpose of communication, the audiences, the channels available to managers, the principles of effective change communication, and how communication failures damage change outcomes, with worked Australian examples from Telstra, Qantas and Atlassian.

10 min read →

Area of Study 2: How is change implemented in a business using a structured change model?

Lewin's three-step change model - unfreeze, change (transition), refreeze - as a framework for managing a planned organisational change, and the management actions appropriate at each stage

Lewin's three-step change model. The unfreeze, change and refreeze stages, the management actions appropriate at each stage, and how the model complements Lewin's force field analysis, with worked Australian examples from ANZ, Telstra and Coles.

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Area of Study 2: Should managers use low-risk or high-risk strategies to implement change?

Low-risk and high-risk strategies for implementing change - the tactics, the contexts in which each is appropriate, and the costs and benefits of each, including manipulation and threat as high-risk strategies

Low-risk and high-risk change strategies. The tactics of each, the appropriate-use contexts, the costs and benefits, the ethical considerations around manipulation and threat, and how to combine the approaches, with worked Australian examples from Coles, Qantas and ANZ.

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Area of Study 2: How is change implemented in a business?

Senge's learning organisation - personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, team learning, systems thinking; low-risk and high-risk strategies for implementing change; leadership during change; the importance of leadership styles and management skills in implementing change

Senge's learning organisation and change strategies. The five disciplines, low-risk vs high-risk change strategies (Kotter-style consultation v aggressive restructure), and the role of leadership style in change, with worked examples from Atlassian, Qantas and ANZ.

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Area of Study 2: How does change affect stakeholders, and what is the role of corporate social responsibility?

The effect of change on stakeholders of a business - including owners, managers, employees, customers, suppliers and the community - and corporate social responsibility considerations when reviewing performance and implementing change

Human and ethical dimension of change. How change affects each stakeholder group (owners, managers, employees, customers, suppliers, community), what corporate social responsibility means in the change context, and how managers implement change responsibly.

9 min read →