Study resistance to change in Pearson Edexcel A Level Business through employee fears, organisational scale, communication, leadership, culture and restructuring.
Sources for use with Extract H Bob Iger’s management sequel at Disney In Hollywood, a superhero often returns; when an action film does well at the box office, the lead character gets at least one sequel. Disney extended this approach to the company’s governance. It has removed Bob Chapek as its Chief Executive and has brought back his predecessor Bob Iger, who held the top job at Disney from 2005 to 2020. Disney shares initially rose 9% in the hope that Iger will be more successful than Chapek. Share prices had fallen by 40% in 2022 with losses of $1.5bn in just three months at its streaming service Disney+ under the leadership of Chapek. At a meeting with employees announcing Iger’s return he was met with cheers and applause. Iger responded by saying he thought he would cry. During his 15-year term as Disney CEO, Iger oversaw its successful acquisitions of Marvel and Pixar and launched the Disney+ streaming service. Iger will serve for two years until a replacement is found and will set the strategic direction for renewed growth. Susan Arnold, Chair of the Disney board, said, “The board has concluded that Bob Iger is uniquely situated to lead the company through this pivotal period.” Extract I Iger begins shaking up Disney Organisational Structure The next day, after his surprise return to Disney as CEO, Bob Iger sent a memo to his 220,000 employees saying, “Over the coming weeks, we will begin implementing organisational and operating changes within the company. There is a lot to do. Quickly.” The Disney boss faces a difficult task. He must restore morale at the company, particularly at its studio and streaming creative divisions. “It is my intention to restructure things in a way that honours and respects creativity as the heart and soul of who we are. This is a time of enormous change and challenges in our industry, and our work will also focus on creating a more efficient and cost-effective structure,” added Iger.
Indicative content guidance
Answers must be credited by using the level descriptors (below) in line with the general marking guidance. The indicative content below exemplifies some of the points that candidates may make but this does not imply that any of these must be included. Other relevant points must also be credited.
QS: QS8 and QS9
Knowledge, Application, Analysis, Evaluation - indicative content
- Resistance to change often occurs in businesses when stakeholders are fearful of the changes being made
- Bob Iger is planning to change the organisational structure and how things operate at Disney to make the business more efficient and reduce costs
- This could result in some Disney employees being unhappy with the
changes being made if this results in redundancies or a change to familiar working practices to reduce costs
- The size of the organisation could have an impact on the level of resistance met by Bob Iger
- Disney is a very large business with over 220,000 employees in a
variety of departments
- This could result in the changes being implemented taking a long time to spread throughout Disney further creating resistance from employees
- The speed of the change could create resistance to change by employees if they think this is happening too fast for them to adapt
- However, Iger may not face much resistance to his changes or might be able to manage the situation to reduce any negative impact on
Disney
- Resistance usually occurs when the change is not shared or understood by employees
- Bob Iger has informed employees well ahead of schedule about his planned changes therefore this could encourage stakeholders to be open about any concerns that they have
- Giving employees an opportunity to voice their concerns could help Bob
Iger implement the restructuring with little resistance if the changes are fully explained
- Bob Iger has previously been the CEO for 15 years at Disney therefore has great understanding of the organisational culture within the
different areas of Disney
- Bob Iger was cheered by employees which shows that many employees trust his leadership and welcome his return
- He stated that he wants to restructure Disney to honour and respect the creativity of the business demonstrating a real understanding of what motivates Disney employees
- His experience and familiarisation with Disney and its employees could result in much less resistance from employees
- Share prices in Disney rose by 9% after the announcement of Iger's
reinstatement showing that the markets believe he has the ability to regenerate Disney and its vision
- The overall resistance to change will depend very much on Iger's
management ability to motivate employees and whether employees share the same vision to help change be successful
Level
Mark
Descriptor
0
No rewardable material.
Level 1
1-4
Isolated elements of knowledge and understanding.
Weak or no relevant application of business examples.
An argument may be attempted, but will be generic and fail to connect causes and/or consequences.
Level 2
5-8
Elements of knowledge and understanding, which are applied to the business example.
Arguments and chains of reasoning are presented but connections between causes and/or consequences are incomplete. Attempts to address the question.
A comparison or judgement may be attempted but it will not successfully show an awareness of the key features of business behaviour or business situation.
Level 3
9-14
Accurate and thorough knowledge and understanding, supported throughout by relevant and effective use of the business behaviour/context.
Uses developed chains of reasoning, so that causes and/or consequences are complete, showing an understanding of the question.
Arguments are well developed.
Quantitative and/or qualitative information is introduced in an attempt to support judgements, a partial awareness of the validity and/or significance of competing arguments and may lead to a conclusion.
Level 4
15-20
Accurate and thorough knowledge and understanding, supported throughout by relevant and effective use of the business behaviour/context.
Uses well-developed and logical, coherent chains of reasoning, showing a range of cause and/or effect(s).
Arguments are fully developed.
Quantitative and/or qualitative information is/are used well to support judgements. A full awareness of the validity and significance of competing arguments/factors, leading to balanced comparisons, judgements and an effective conclusion that proposes a solution and/or recommendations.