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Change Management

7 REAL-LIFE EXAMPLES OF
SUCCESSFUL CHANGE MANAGEMENT
IN BUSINESS
By Profit& September 20, 2019 5 Comments

Any change management programme must identify areas of potential

conflict, address the needs of everyone in the business and most of all,
bridge the gap between the aspirations of executives and those
affected by change. That’s exactly what the seven businesses below
managed to do.

Here are real-life examples of successful change management in

business.

1. British Airways
2. Netflix
3. Lego
4. Domino’s Pizza
5. A Regular Church
6. Nokia
7. Coca-Cola

1. BRITISH AIRWAYS
In 1981, British Airways appointed a new chairperson, John King. Early
on, it was noticed that the company was extremely inefficient and a
lot of valuable resources were being wasted.

To help the organisation become more profitable, the chairperson

decided to restructure the entire business. He decided that the most
efficient way to do this was through a change management plan.

The organisation soon began to reduce its workforce. However, before

this was completed, the chairman - through his change management
leadership - provided the business with reasons for restructuring
British Airways to help prepare them for the upcoming change.

His plan saw him axe 22,000 jobs - including half of the board - replace
older planes with modern jets and eliminated unprofitable routes. One
of his successors, Martin Broughton, paid tribute to King for the role
he played in the transformation.

He said: “Lord King transformed the airline from a position of state-

owned weakness to one of financial strength and global renown as a
pioneer privatised carrier.”

So, through leadership and communication, he managed to direct the

business through an incredibly difficult time and turned British
Airways into a profitable business.

2. NETFLIX
In 1997, the gargantuan media-services provider Netflix was born.
Previously, the model offered customers monthly subscriptions to
have movies posted to their door. This meant they avoided the late
fees which traditional movie rental business imposed upon customers.

From the beginning, Netflix proved to be a disruptive organisation

which has likely resulted in its capability to transform and adapt to the
digital world. Streaming began in 2007 for the business and meant
subscribers no longer needed to wait for DVDs to come through the
mail.

Netflix successfully implemented change management to meet the

needs of the consumers that would begin to watch content online. At
one stage, it was at a crossroads, when its long-term sustainability was
dependent on how it managed the change to a digital future.

After surviving a drop in subscription numbers and stock figures,

Netflix subscribers grew from 23 million in 2011 to more than 137
million in 2018. So trusting their plan worked, as the business knew
DVDs were on their way out and they needed to shift gears.

3. LEGO
Lego’s reinvention has seen its story hailed as the greatest turnaround
in corporate history. From 1932 until 1998, Lego had never posted a
loss. By 2003, it was an entirely different story. Sales were down by 30%
year-on-year and the brand was $800 million in debt. What didn’t help
their situation was that Lego hadn’t added anything of value to its
portfolio for a decade.

So, what happened between Lego’s CEO, Jørgen Vig Knudstorp,

admitting that the brand is running out of cash and he wouldn’t
survive, and when it overtook Ferrari as the world’s most powerful
brand in 2015?

Much like Netflix, Lego eventually realised that its lifespan of physical
products wasn’t going to have an infinite interest. After a period of
expansion, this beloved toy company was near bankruptcy in 2004.
With this realistic yet disastrous outcome on the horizon, Lego
decided it was time to start restructuring.

To begin, the business implemented digital transformation. Instead of

putting their sole focus on physical toy products, Lego is increasingly
concentrating on bridging the physical and virtual augmented reality
(AR) experiences.

Now, Lego’s revival has gone down in history. A book has been
devoted to the subject - Brick by Brick: How Lego Rewrote the Rules of
Innovation - while the likes of Google, Adidas and Sony all refer to it.

By finding new sources of revenue, LEGO has managed to transform

its brand and keep up with the requirements of its target audience
today.

4. DOMINO’S PIZZA
The changes implemented by Domino’s Pizza finally saw the brand lift
its sales over Pizza Hut for the very time. Using savvy marketing,
creative ordering methods and innovative technology, things were
finally looking positive in 2010.

Back in 2008, Domino’s Pizza was struggling as stock had hit an all-
time low. Despite the importance the business had put on
maintaining a positive brand image, its struggles were making this a
real challenge.

In 2012, however, Domino’s Pizza was back on its feet due to a

successful change management implementation. The organisation’s
pizza turnaround, thanks to digital transformation, rested on the fact
that key transformation players managed to convince top
management to get on board. Eventually, their enthusiasm trickled
down throughout the entire business.

The brand implemented new technology to support the chance. A

new custom delivery vehicle with a heating oven was introduced,
dubbed the DXP, which acted as a form of advertisement despite only
150 being on the road at the time.

The brand ramped up its digital efforts as well to meet consumer

demand. Text messages, Alexa, Google Home, Twitter, Facebook,
Smart TVs - they’re all methods used by consumers to order a pizza.

Domino’s leveraged the wealth of consumer data through its custom

operating system. This helped keep the transaction costs low and
provided Domino’s with insights about its customers. Then there’s also
the case of developing loyalty programmes and introducing special
offers to continue to drive up sales.

Despite the successful change, it hasn’t stopped there. The brand has
also tested drone and robot delivery - even partnering with Ford on
self-driving options.

5. A REGULAR CHURCH
Nobody has ever claimed that change management is limited to large
corporations and well-known brands. Take this example from a blog
post by KM Jeff, whose church was building a new sanctuary. Since it
was the congregation that was going to be paying for the sanctuary,
the church created a steering committee of members of the
congregation.

Members were invited to participate and provide feedback during

each step of the construction. They were made to feel like a valuable
part of the process. The reason behind this was so that they’d embrace
the change as they’d have provided their input.

By doing this and getting members involved, the church decreased

any negative feelings towards the sanctuary. The lesson to take away
from this example is that getting everyone committed to the process
is an integral way of ensuring that your change management strategy
will be a major success.

6. NOKIA
Before smartphones entered the mainstream market, Nokia was
enjoying the success it had built, as the business had claimed 40% of
the market share in 2007. Five years later, however, the Finnish
organisation was almost finished! It edged closer to disaster as shares
plummeted and the company logged more than $2 billion in
operating losses in the first half of 2012 alone.

The problem? Nokia realised that it had missed the opportunity to

lead the smartphone revolution. Nokia then hired a new CEO and
embarked on a journey to reinvent itself. After selling its struggling
mobile device division to fellow giant Microsoft, the concentration
shifted to network and mapping technologies.

In 2008, Nokia introduced a Booster Programme that helped the

company match the ever-changing aspirations of its customers, as
well as new technologies among competitors. They went from nine to
four business units and streamlined development into just three
business units.

Nokia also purchased Siemens and then Alcatel-Lucent. The result was
billions gained in shareholder value and Nokia became a full-service
infrastructure provider. Nokia’s amazing transformation from a
borderline bankrupt hardware manufacturer to leading technology
players shows how major organisations can respond to serious
disruptions by transforming themselves.

7. COCA-COLA
Perhaps no organisation has been through change management
challenges quite like the Coca-Cola Company. One example is from
the 1980s when bitter rivals Pepsi started to aggressively target Coca-
Cola.

In response, the latter released New Coke - a sweeter version of its

classic drink.

New Coke wasn’t a success and didn’t appeal to the public. Coca-Cola
wasted no time in replacing it with the older formula. Here, the brand
was able to respond quickly to consumer preferences so that the
product’s appeal was maintained.

It even stretches as far back as World War II. By offering free drinks to
soldiers, Coca-Cola quickly marketed itself as a symbol of the US war
effort. At the same time, it boosted brand recognition in destination
countries that allied forces were occupying. During this process, Coca-
Cola cemented its presence through 64 extra manufacturing sites
across the world.

This accelerated the company’s post-war global expansion strategy.

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These are just some of the change management examples which
show how Coca-Cola manages to stay ahead of the curve. To respond
Telephone: +44 1158 943 983
to greater health consciousness, Coca-Cola released Enviga, Diet Coke
and Coca-Cola Zero to appeal to this target market. Then during the
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Asian financial crisis, the organisation pursued an acquisition strategy
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By reacting quickly and acting proactively in anticipation of changing
trends, it’s clear how change management is a vital component in
Coca-Cola’s overall strategic vision. Telephone: +49 40 22859120

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ANKITA JAISWAL
5/12/2021, 5:06:27 PM

Thanks for the valiuable tips

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FEZILE JULY
7/24/2021, 6:53:13 AM

Interested in learning more about change management

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Great read! Loved learning about these companies.

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Thank you for sharing the information of Real-Life examples.

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