Introduction
In the modern world of a highly competitive and rapidly developing business, change drives growth for companies, huge ones with an international presence. Under such circumstances, it is essential to research, address, and meet contemporary market demands to enable the company to reach its target audience and sustainably generate profit. In this regard, a decision to invest in competitive advantage building is a positive solution, which might be accomplished by adhering to reliable change models. This report is focused on Starbucks’ vision and mission fulfillment under the change project using Kotter’s eight steps to adjust the business processes and management to the requirements of the post-COVID-19 market.
Evaluation of the Change’s Impact
The need for change to occur is related to the advancement of external factors, such as COVID-19-based changes in the global economy and technological advancement, which lead to competition in the industry. The proposed company change is justified by the drawbacks in its ability to deliver according to its established objectives under the burden of the fast-moving industry (Kee et al., 2021). The change’s impact on the company globally is related to its ability to help Starbucks remain competitive, sustain consumer reach, and facilitate effective business processes. As for the impact of the proposed change on employees, it might advance employee skills and professional development, generate competitive talent capital, and foster inclusivity and equity.
Create a Sense of Urgency
The first step of the proposed change management model is to create a sense of urgency. The strategy to complete the first step of Kotter’s 8-step model is to analyze the economic context, during which the newly emerged challenges are conditioned by COVID-19 implications (Azizi et al., 2021). Another aspect of the strategy for accomplishing this step is reviewing the company’s mission and identifying weaknesses, which might be associated with the potential loss of competitive advantage without adjusting workforce competencies to the industry’s new requirements. Thus, the sense of urgency is based on the need for competitive workforce development to cope with new processes and tasks after the lockdown.
Form a Powerful Coalition
The second step of the model is forming a powerful coalition, which would allow the project to undertake its tasks successfully and efficiently. The strategy for this step is to prioritize the best professionals in their respective fields who are knowledgeable about Starbucks’ strategic goals of being a global leader in the coffee industry and current challenges (“Workforce diversity at Starbucks,” 2023). In this regard, the coalition should comprise senior team leaders, experts in training, local management for international departments, and the involved change agents.
Develop a Vision and Strategy
The third step of Kotter’s 8-step change management model is creating a vision for change. At this stage, the formed coalition, motivated by the urgency of change, should develop a vision of how the change should be conducted and what results it should provide. The strategy for this step might involve a problem-solving approach, according to which the team should prioritize finding a solution to adjust to the new work environment due to the COVID-19 aftermath (Kee et al., 2021). Thus, to create a vision, the change management team should draft a document on a new work environment by identifying the priorities of employee and customer safety and efficiency under the impact of lockdown challenges.
Communicate the Change Vision
The fourth step of the change model is to communicate the vision for change with the involved stakeholders. To accomplish this step, a strategy of transparency, engagement, and clarity of message delivery is required. Based on the preliminary document with the formulated vision, a more transparent and detailed vision of change should be compiled in a workbook for change. It should be distributed during meetings for the involved parties to review. After that, the shared vision might undergo discussions to identify the implementation tactics. This step is essential for the overall change implementation process since it creates a firm basis for each team member’s understanding of the overall goal and their respective responsibilities.
Empower Action
The next stage of the change implementation plan is the removal of obstacles on the pathway toward successful change occurrence. At this stage, a consistent and teamwork-based cooperation strategy should ensure that each problem and challenge is promptly and transparently addressed. The solutions should be generated and applied through the change agents’ active involvement, allowing for consolidated decision-making. Improving the designed tactics might be necessary to ensure that the identified drawbacks are eliminated and that the overall project’s success is not jeopardized. In general, completing this step should be based on adherence to the workbook protocols to ensure consistency and clarity of decision.
Generate Short-Term Wins
The sixth step of Kotter’s model is related to creating short-term wins, which are successful goal achievements that might be evident in a short period. Scaling the change should be used within the context of this stage. Indeed, the company should approach the implementation of new work procedures step-by-step by advancing the change. Starbucks’ decision-making to open new stores by new practices is conducted by opening only several stores first, which allows for identifying whether the proposed change works (Kee et al., 2021). Thus, the company should build on small successes, open new stores step-by-step, and learn from short-term outcomes to accomplish this step.
Consolidate Gains and Produce More Change
The seventh stage of the change implementation plan is building on change. This step’s accomplishment should be based on the strategy of accurately revising the small successes to inform the outcomes of the overall project. In this regard, Starbucks should validate the results of short-term wins and maximize the plan’s implementation by applying the new workplace standards to all stores. The results should be evaluated to ensure adjustments as necessary.
Anchor New Approaches in the Culture
The last step of Kotter’s 8-step model is anchoring the changes in corporate culture. The strategy for this step should prioritize long-term vision and critical analysis of the outcomes. Indeed, at this final stage, the change should be completed at the level of individual employees and stores, which should function according to new guidelines. However, it is essential to ensure that the newly emerged change translates to the corporate culture to ensure long-term benefits.
Sustaining Competitive Advantage
The proposed change implementation plan might significantly contribute to Starbucks’s competitive advantage due to its added value. Indeed, since the company grows and adapts flexibly to environmental changes, it demonstrates its resilience to consumers, which enhances its reliability. Ultimately, customers build long-term loyalty, while the company saves on human resource management and safety issues, which translates into a competitive advantage.
Conclusion
The proposed change plan assumes that organizational growth depends on continuous change. The consistency of results might be achieved with step-by-step change models like Kotter’s 8. The proposed change of workplace environment adjustment demonstrates an adequate response to economic changes, the adaptation of workplace standards to new challenges, and the maximization of competitive advantages for Starbucks.
References
Azizi, M. R., Atlasi, R., Ziapour, A., Abbas, J., & Naemi, R. (2021). Innovative human resource management strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic narrative review approach. Heliyon, 7(6), 1-11.
Kee, D. M. H., Faheem, M., Al-Anesi, S. A. L., Imran, M. Y., Hazrul, M., & Khairi, A. A. (2021). Navigating through the COVID-19 crisis: A case study of Starbucks. International Journal of Accounting & Finance in Asia Pacific, 4(1), 24-36.
Workforce diversity at Starbucks. (2023). Starbucks Stories. Web.