In an approximately 500-word response, complete the following: Analyse the role of the HR leader(s) in the organisational change example you chose. In your analysis, connect concepts from your readings about organisational change and HRM to your experiences and observations. In formulating your Key Concept Exercise, consider the following questions: What did the HR leader(s) do to lead and/or manage the organisational change? How do the HRM approaches used to address the change reflect theories, models or other thinking about the role of HRM in organisational change from your readings? How do they diverge from ideas evident in your readings? Example used was: A manufacturing company has recently acquired two new subsidiaries that manufacture new product lines, each in a different country. (Please see attached)

The Value of Corporate Social Responsibility

Unilever has recently acquired two new subsidiaries that manufacture new body lotion items in two different countries in South America. Given its status as one of the largest consumer goods companies with very many branches all over the world, the move is considered a great acquisition and a good step towards expanding its global impact. Some of its products include personal care products, food, cleaning agents, and beverages. It currently more than 400 brands, with its headquarters in London as well as Rotterdam. Its strategic goals include improving wellbeing and health through hygiene and improved nutrition. It also aims at reducing its environmental impact by reducing water usage, greenhouse gases, packaging and waste, and sustainable sourcing. In its goal to enhance livelihoods, it aims for fairness in the workplace, inclusive business, and more opportunities for women in their workplace (Dauvergne & Lister, 2012). However, despite the acquisition of the two new subsidiaries, the company faces an uphill task in ensuring that they are a success despite the new cultural, ethical, and business environment that it has not worked in before.

The company has a number of cultural issues to tackle in the new venture. Given the general nature of decision making in the company being centralized, it poses a problem in tackling the dynamics of the new market regions given the long time needed for the decisions to be made. The regional manager will have a hard time convincing the superiors to act swiftly in response to market changes without appearing to compromise the long history of management culture of the organization (Zheng, Yang, & McLean, 2010). It is also worrying that the decisions are made from the top, without due consideration of the views of the people on the ground that understand the market changes. Given that the company is entering new markets, decisions ought to be made based on the feedback from the people in the field rather than relying on people in headquarter with little knowledge of the situation in the field. The culture of the company does not allow bribery of any form when dealing with business associates or potential business contacts. However, in these countries, giving of gifts is considered an act of good will and serves to cement the business relationship. The company faces a dilemma in how to show goodwill without appearing to negate its principle of no corruption of any nature in business dealings. However, if the company is to succeed in capturing the new markets, embracing and adapting to the cultures of the new countries is necessary irrespective of what the company culture dictates.

Unilever has a number of ethical problems to solve to make entry into the markets smooth. The company is introducing new products which potential customers are not aware of in terms of their values and disadvantages. There is a possibility of the company misrepresenting the information on what the products can do which may not be verifiable. Such false advertisement can wreck the company’s reputation when it is realized that wrong information was given at the beginning (Sheehan, 2013). For instance, insisting that a certain product slows aging only for the customer to realize that it was lie will kill the trust the customer had on the company. Also, it is clear that in some nations, the minimal pay legally expected for each employee is far below what the company has pledged to pay its lowest paid employees. If the company adopts the rates of the country where it has entered market, it shall be legally paying the workers well although by its standards it is exploiting them. Hence, an ethical dilemma arises if the company should pay the workers based on the expected rates in the new country or rather base the payment on its internal standards in other nations. Ultimately, it is necessary that it maintains the same standards in dealing with employees in different nations.

Unilever’s role in corporate social responsibility presents another problem for the company. The company has pledged to contribute to combating climate change by reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and minimizing waste. This benefit may not be apparent to the residents of the individual nations, making the natives hard to believe that the company has any more impact in their lives other than using them as customers and workers. Convincing them that the company has had an impact in climate change control is a hard task. Further, it is hard to convince shareholder to commit more money to corporate social responsibility in countries that they have not had a big impact (Du, Bhattacharya, & Sen, 2010). They are still skeptical about the viability of the idea of entering the new markets, making them cautious in how they agree to allocation of funds. It will result in suspicion by people in the new markets as well as suspicion by shareholders who should be funding the expansion to the new markets. It may make the company’s social corporate responsibility insignificant in the two new countries where it is running business, thus reducing the trust among potential customers.

The above problems can serve to demoralize the staff in lower ranks as well as leaving the managers and other senior staff in the two countries in a state of confusion. The people in the field may feel demoralized when their recommendations are not taken into account, while the regional manager may feel saddled with responsibility that he has no control over. Furthermore, the local population may be hostile to the company and its products because they may feel like they are being exploited rather than benefiting from the coming of a new company to their country. The frustration of the staff, the confusion of the management, and the general mistrust among the local people means that the relationship of the company and its potential customers will be severed, leaving it without an established market base to conduct its business. Generally, the company will be unable to operate meaningfully until the above issues are well tackled and solved.

References

Dauvergne, P., & Lister, J. (2012). Big brand sustainability: Governance prospects and environmental limits. Global Environmental Change, 22(1), 36-45.

Du, S., Bhattacharya, C. B., & Sen, S. (2010). Maximizing business returns to corporate social responsibility (CSR): The role of CSR communication. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), 8-19.

Sheehan, K. B. (2013). Controversies in contemporary advertising. Sage Publications.

Zheng, W., Yang, B., & McLean, G. N. (2010). Linking organizational culture, structure, strategy, and organizational effectiveness: Mediating role of knowledge management. Journal of Business research, 63(7), 763-771.