South Station Wagyu; Challenges of Implementing and Managing Change

South Station Wagyu; Challenges of Implementing and Managing Change

South Station Wagyu; Challenges of Implementing and Managing Change

Change involves modification, alteration, or transformation of practices and behavior, which can be either planned or emergent. In business, change can involve various levels, such as departments, where small incremental adjustments are made or transformations in an entire organization. Change cultivates growth and helps an organization to overcome its challenges, such as increased competition and dynamic markets (Orridge, 2009). Organizations constantly change towards digitalization, globalization, and focusing on different target groups for products, mainly to avoid under-performance or closure of the business. Implementation and management in business involve the activities that organizations perform to control and apply structural modifications. South Stations Wagyu (SSW) company was established in 2017 to change the beef industry in New Zealand. The company identified market gaps and modified existing products through the introduction of Red Wagyu beef in New Zealand. For SSW to remain relevant in the New Zealand market and improve its beef markets, the company needs to embrace change and implement the strategies identified. To manage change in the domestic and international markets, SSW can utilize the Kotter Change model and integrate human strategies, such as appreciating change and mobilizing support, however, the company may face challenges in organizational structure and in establishing its markets. Efforts that the company can apply to overcome the challenges include the use of the Rhetoric change management tool.

First, SSW can influence New Zealand’s beef industry in the future by improving the operating environment through the application of the Kotter Change model, which consists of eight stages of introducing and implementing change in businesses. The SSW company can adopt the Kotter Change Model to actualize ideas of change that will influence the beef market in New Zealand (Pollack & Pollack 2015).  SSW can implement the ideas in different steps to establish itself and drive change in the industry to maintain its operations and outdo the competition. The operating environment involves the organizational factors, which affect the business, either internally or externally. Applying change in these factors will catapult the sales and maintain SSW top in the beef industry sector. Besides, to establish influence in the beef industry, SSW needs to utilize the procedural approach to its operations from identifying organizational changes required to executing the strategies identified (Kraemer, 2011). First, a sense of urgency can be established through the diagnosis of an existing performance gap in the organization, routines, and the beef industry forms of the foundation of adjusting operations in the company. Performance gaps in the business may arise from the company falling short of production targets and lack of workers or consumers’ satisfaction. In SSW’s case, performance gaps include the focus on individual gains rather than developing the industry, which may affect the organization’s growth.

Once the organization’s executive makes the diagnosis, the change is designed through making decisions to define its scope. This statement encompasses the second stage of Kotter’s model, which describes the formation of a powerful guiding coalition (Pollack & Pollack 2015). For SSW, education of the farmers on the regulations set for grass-fed cattle can be crucial to improve the quality of the red meat. Strategies can be outlined to encourage teamwork and to ensure that the farmers are aware of the cattle they are supposed to breed, which provide red meat to the company for quality produce. Next, maintaining and improving the operating environment in the company will involve restarting the vision among workers, to fit in the beef industry. Visions help to direct the organizational activities with all stakeholders getting involved. The fourth step involves the communication of the vision, where employers, executives, and suppliers are informed about the desired direction the company wishes to take(Murthy, 2007). Also, tactical modifications are designed to change behavior or routines in the internal environment of a business.

Additionally, the other step is the empowerment of all players in the organization to act on the vision. SSW company can implement employee policies that empower them and contribute to overall production in the organization. For instance, the company can plan on having regular training of the workers on beef processing, preservation, and packaging. The sixth step encompasses planning and creating short-term goals. Application of evolutionary changes, which involve vertical contribution through discussions by the employees, are allowed, where leaders set short-term goals and offer guidance to workers. Through the approach, diverse ideas are integrated into processing and production in the company, which leads to outstanding products in the New Zealand beef market. The company can also embrace revolutionary change, which emanates from a movement or idea within the internal environment (Harris, 2012). By consolidating improvements as the seventh step in Kotter’s model, the company will strengthen its strategies towards change. For instance, farmers who are fundamental stakeholders may suggest on having regular veterinary services on their cattle sponsored by the company. Finally, the last step is the institutionalization of the new approaches determined in the business. To create influence in the beef industry, the company can organize for such services to stand out among other beef-producing businesses in New Zealand. Adjustments related to the company’s goals are essential to implement, as the organization adapts to technology and marketing strategies. In this case, Southern Stations Wagyu aims at transforming the beef industry in the country, therefore, changes should be made to explore opportunities, such as introducing new slaughterhouse management techniques.

Currently, the human aspects of change that SSW implements in its business model involves building relationships. The company provides regular care for the farmers’ animals to produce high-quality red Wagyu beef products. Also, by connecting with farmers through regular education programs, the company promotes an integrated value chain. Contractual agreements are used in the internal operations of the company, which strengthen the relationship between workers and the managers (Murthy, 2007). Besides, in SSW’s organizational structure, coordination among partners and farmers is highly valued. Collaboration is enhanced through constant relations with the company’s stakeholders, such as PGG Wrightson, Alliance Group, and farmers. Buiding relationships promote transformation in the business, which incorporates stakeholders and other organizations.

Other human aspects that the company needs to consider include successful persuasion and appreciating change, where leaders in the company initiate campaigns for transformation. Rhetoric change strategies can be applied to drive change, which successful managers use to build agreements on organizational development. Also, leaders in an organization have the mandate to inform stakeholders about reactive and anticipatory changes intended to be accomplished (Jones & Recardo 2013). Besides, constant meetings with shareholders and the executive members will influence change in marketing and expanding markets for beef products in New Zealand. In this case, the SSW executive team can forecast the challenges the organization may face and enact transformation to counter risks or threats in the beef industry in New Zealand. Secondly, management can mobilize support from its stakeholders, suppliers, and customers. Mobilizing support includes persuading people who are involved in the business to promote growth. The company can utilize the coordination of supply chain operations through mobilizing the farmers on the transformations the management intends to make. Through mobilizing support from stakeholders, communication is passed directly on the new developments on beef production.

On the other hand, the company faces problems in the process of making changes in the organization and the overall beef industry, such as failure to meet regulations on pasture-fed cattle meat, challenges in managing stakeholders, and establishing their markets for red Wagyu beef. Kotter’s model asserts that change must be tied to the business culture, however, if an organization advances for change with no foundation in the enterprise, then the scope of the transformation will be limited (Pollack & Pollack, 2015). In this case, implementing organizational changes are impeded as the company fails to involve a culture towards producing red Wagyu beef products. Regarding the quality of beef, the international regulations on grass-fed cattle products control the products, which poses a challenge towards implementing change. When the farmers are not informed of such requirements, then the supply of meat will be limited over time, which adversely affects the business. In this situation, if the company does not hold talks with farmers, it risks closure due to poor quality of beef. In this case, resources needed for such informative programs have to be set aside, however, insufficient funds to accomplish the tasks renders any transformation fruitless. Failing to set short-term goals towards implementing change makes the organization to lose control over its transformative agenda.

According to the SSW general manager, managing the stakeholders through maintaining relationships with them is often difficult, especially where changes intend to be implemented. Managing change requires the coordination of activities, both inside the organization and externally. Regulations on the environment and animal welfare may affect the developmental stage of designing transformation. Bringing international regulatory bodies is crucial in the growth of the company, however, when no guiding coalition is made between the entities, implementing change becomes difficult. Also, when the company fails to establish a clear vision to its workers and suppliers, a sense of direction is lost, which makes the implementation of change cumbersome. As a company, the executive and other workers have to sacrifice to maintain the business in the industry. Maintaining the links with all farmers, stakeholders, and the government is essential, thus employees have to commit themselves to the success of the company.

Also, the executive members of the company face challenges in establishing new channels to enter markets. As red Wagyu beef is still a new product in the market, the company faces problems in creating a reputation for quality products. According to Kotter’s change model, if a company fails to outline the steps to accomplish when entering a new market, it will remain enclosed within existing local avenues to sell their beef products (Pollack & Pollack, 2015). To match the traditional beef quality in the market, the company struggles to change the mode of feeding the animals. Traditional beef products are preferred to the red Wagyu in the market, which bars the expansion of the company in New Zealand. As the quality of red Wagyu is hard to maintain due to the farmers’ feeding practices, trade regulations impend the sale of more products.

To manage change in domestic and international markets, the company can use the rhetoric of change as a project management tool. The rhetoric of change illustrates the approaches that company executives use to drive change in an organization (Estrada, 2011). This tool consists of three constructs, which managers can apply to implement change in an organization. These elements are logos, pathos, and ethos. Logos describe the reason or logic, which is the foundation of change, pathos involves the emotions tied in the argument towards transformation, and ethos is the transitional values that managers may want to instil in the systems. In light of the Rhetoric of Change, SSW can utilize the tool to influence the beef market, both within New Zealand and international countries. Regarding the logos, the company can formulate the purpose and vision of the intended transformation. For instance, the general manager can extract the economic advantage of increasing markets for beef products. Once the logic of the change is tied to the organization, the company maintains the focus to implement it to influence the beef market in New Zealand. For the pathos, SSW can include the essence of promoting employees’ and farmers’ satisfaction in the statement for change.

Involving the workers’ wellbeing in the transformations ensures close relationships, which help with the implementation of the change. Also, encompassing the welfare of the cattle farmers into the scope of any transformation builds trust among the company’s stakeholders. Besides, having the support of the suppliers and employees helps captivate the establishment of the organizational and market-related modifications. The integration of ethos involves stating the values that the transformation supports in an organization. Southern Station Wagyu can include the fundamental values of the company’s vision and mission into the transformation that executives may need to establish. Stating values in the change strategy will strengthen the motive and purpose of the transformation. For instance, the company can declare the values of commitment in an intended transformation for the reorganization of the internal structure of SWW (Tushman, 2015). Similarly, internal policies, which aim at improving the domestic business environment, should involve the company’s core values to maintain the focus as the changes are enacted.

SWW can adopt flexible approaches to handle the obstacles that may obstruct the efforts towards implementing new changes in the organization. Through implementing a working software, the company can be able to measure progress, especially towards transforming the beef markets in New Zealand. The project also utilizes teamwork among people, which leads to faster decision making and integrating diverse opinions. In this case, the emphasis on promoting employee teamwork towards change at the organizational level is needed. Finally, building a network of links at the international level with beef products regulatory bodies creates a conducive environment for exportation of its products (Kahn & Cottle, 2014). In summary, with the outlined project management tools, the company can achieve the changes outlined to improve the market and establish itself in the beef industry in New Zealand.

In conclusion, Southern Station Wagyu can establish influence in the beef industry in New Zealand and other countries through embracing change. Also, human aspects, which are integrated into transforming the beef industry, include accepting change and mobilizing support by the leaders. However, the company may face challenges in the process of transforming the company and the entire beef industry. In SSW, these project management tools can be used, and they include the Rhetoric of change, which involves initiatives of the executive members to incorporate logos, pathos, and ethos in the scope of the proposed change. Through the rhetoric change tool, the company can overcome challenges, which may slow down the implementation of the organizational or market-based change. SSW can, therefore, utilize the software to handle the problems with urgency and fast to propel transformation.

References

Estrada, F. (2011). The Rhetoric of Economics.

Harris, P. R. (2012). Developing high-performance leaders: A behavioral science guide for the      knowledge of work culture. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com.

Henderson, R., Gulati, R., & Tushman, M. (Eds.). (2015). Leading sustainable change: An             organizational perspective. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com.

Jones, D. J., & Recardo, R. J. (2013). Leading and implementing business change management :   Making change stick in the contemporary organization. Retrieved from        https://ebookcentral.proquest.com.

Jones, D. J., & Recardo, R. J. (2013). Leading and implementing business change management :   Making change stick in the contemporary organization. Retrieved from        https://ebookcentral.proquest.com.

Kahn, L., & Cottle, D. (Eds.). (2014). Beef cattle production and trade. Retrieved from             https://ebookcentral.proquest.com.

Kraemer, H. M. (2011). From values to action : The four principles of values-based leadership.     Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com.

Murthy, C. (2007). Change management. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com.

Orridge, M. (2009). Change leadership : Developing a change-adept organization. Retrieved        from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com.

Pollack, J., & Pollack, R.P. (2015). Using Kotter’s Eight Stage Process to Manage an        Organisational Change Program: Presentation and Practice. Systemic Practice and Action   Research, 28, 51-66.