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Changing Organizational Culture at Creative Colors

Nicholette Inman
ORG 6503: Organizational Theories and Systems
University oI Rockies
ProIessor Shelton
December 4, 2011





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bstract
The owner oI Creative Colors has sought the Iinancial and business guidance once again Ior the
acquisition oI Vancouver, Canada company, rt Depot. This store has not been operating at its
degree highest success with their two retail locations. Because the owner oI Creative Colors is
now experiencing an increase in proIits due to the positive restructuring oI her organization, she
has decided to acquire he two rt Depot locations in Canada. Because this newly acquired
company does not operate with the same competitive advantage strategies as Creative Colors, the
owner will need to implement a plan that will enable the workers oI rt Depot to adapt to the
new culture and structure oI Creative Color store operations. While there is certain areas oI
resistance that is to be expected when implementing organizational change, the owner has to
ensure that each area oI resistance is met with equal Iorce in an eIIort to Iurther encourage
commitment to the change Irom all members oI the organization.








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Changing Organizational Culture at Creative Colors
The acquisition oI a company can have immediate and long lasting eIIects on the
employees as well as the culture oI the acquired company. While the decision to acquire a
company revolves around Iinancial and market opportunities, the culture and organizational
structure oI the acquired company should be considered as a determining Iactor beIore an
organization makes the decision to take over another company. It is important to construct a
detailed and precise plan that would eIIectively encourage the cultural change to be implemented
at the acquired company. The strategy Ior encouraging employees to understand the new culture
will help to decrease the likelihood oI resistance to the new organizational change.
Creative Colors is a popular and successIul arts and craIts retail store that has managed to
successIully restructure their organization by downsizing their company and is now operating
eIIiciently with growing revenues and proIits in their three retail stores. Creative Colors is a
popular company that has diIIerentiated itselI Irom competitors with their high quality products
and outstanding customer service that they provide to all oI their customers. With their art
classes and online selling presence this company is able to stand out Irom other arts and craIts
stores. Due to the growing economic climate the owner oI Creative Colors has decided to acquire
a competing company based out oI Vancouver, Canada, rt Depot. Unlike Creative Colors, rt
Depot has not been operating at a capacity that has brought about the greatest success to its
organization. lthough their low-cost strategy has enabled their organization to keep down their
costs Ior goods and services, they have not been able to reach the level oI popularity or customer
base oI a company such as Creative Colors. The owner oI Creative Colors is hoping to expand
her retail chain to this market and implement her structure Ior excellent customer care and
service in this area to gain more customers and establish her market share.
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rt Depot has utilized its distinctive competencies to establish a cost advantage in their
market. Their particular cultural values can be witnessed throughout their organization Irom their
top level management to their Iront line employees. The values established helps to control
behavior, determine how organization members interpret the environment, and helps to achieve a
competitive advantage (Jones, 2010). There are particular instrumental values that are apparent
in rt Depot and these desired behaviors help to achieve company goals. These values are
inIluenced through rules, norms, and standard operating procedures throughout the organization
as shared belieIs and expected behavior. The values oI this low-cost structured company would
have an emphasis on Irugality and economy (Jones, 2010). The company goals would align with
customers who are looking to save money by purchasing their lower costing goods. The
marketing antics that rt Depot utilized beIore the acquisition would attract those customers who
are not looking Ior the highest quality or newest technology items, but rather want to purchase
art supplies and craIts that are economical to their budget.
s the two Canadian rt Depot stores begin to change their structure, their culture and
values will need to adapt to mimic that oI Creative Color`s value oI personalized service to their
customers and high quality products. The values in this structure would emphasize creativity Ior
quality products that stand out in comparison to competitors (Jones, 2010). The importance oI
product development and the attention that the development process will now receive is another
area that will need to be adapted to current expectations. The new cultural values that Creative
Colors will need to implement into the employees oI rt Depot will be a change Irom what their
previously established norms and behaviors, however, this transition is important to ensure that
all Iacets oI the new Iounded organization are aligned (Jacquier, 2010).
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Encouraging the organizational change in the rt Depot stores Irom their previous low-
cost strategy to that oI a diIIerentiated strategy will take work Irom all levels oI management as
well as the active participation Irom all employees in both Creative Colors and the two rt Depot
Iacilities. Communicating cultural values to new organizational members is important and should
be done in a way that has the most beneIit to those new employees as well as already established
employees (Jacquier, 2010). Ways to inIluence these new values are through Iormal
socialization, inIormal stories, ceremonies, and language (Jones, 2010). These values can be
learned by watching others in the organization perIorm their tasks and duties.
In an eIIort to encourage the employees oI rt Depot to show a greater interest in the
overall customer experience, the owner oI Creative Colors has place special emphasis in teaching
the rt Depot teams how to interact with customers and how to make sure that every customer
that visits their retail stores not only has a memorable experience, but because oI this customer
experience will become dedicated and loyal customers. To be able to consider its strategy as
diIIerentiation, rt Depot will need to promote products oI a greater quality, technology, or
service than that oI which they are currently supplying. Their resources should Iocus on quality,
innovation, and customer responsiveness (Gallagher, 2008). Innovations encourage the
organization to develop creative products as well as creative and inventive ways to develop the
product. This creativity will add value to the product and create a demand Ior its uniqueness.
Understanding the beneIits oI providing quality products to customers goes beyond knowing the
product descriptions oI that product. When an organization provides top quality goods and
service, the employees oI that organization have an attitude that can be construed as haughtiness,
not because they are snooty, but because they have respect and appreciation Ior their top quality
product. The owner will need to ensure that the employees oI rt Depot understand the products
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that they will be providing in their stores, as well as respect what their products can do and
accomplish compared to others on the market.
s the owner evaluates the rt Depot organization, she must understand that their culture
diIIers Irom the current culture at Creative Colors, and because oI this, the new strategy has to be
consistent with the demands oI the customers. There are Iour building blocks oI organizational
culture that the owner oI Creative Colors should understand and evaluate as she is establishing a
new culture Ior rt Depot. The origin oI organizational culture arises Irom Iour sources:
characteristics oI the people, organizational ethics, property rights, and organizational structure
(Jones, 2010). The individuals that comprise an organization should have similar values and
belieIs. While the workers in rt Deport are accustomed to diIIerent values, over time, the
employees that remain with the company will learn to adapt to the values that are established by
Creative Colors and those values will become the norm oI the organization. s the company
journeys through the changing process and Iormer employees oI the rt Depot stores decide not
to continue their employment, any new hires should model the company characteristics that the
owner is hoping to establish.
The ethics oI an organization helps to control the behaviors oI the employees and
establishes the expectations oI all employees within the company. The employees oI rt Depot
will be inIormed oI any variations to company ethics and policies early out through the
acquisition process so as there is not any conIusion oI company policies and regulations. These
ethical procedures outline the proper interactions between employees and with customers in the
workplace. The third source the builds an organizational culture are the property rights, or
resources, that all employees are allowed to utilize in the organization. While the rt Deport
employees will maintain their same store Iacilities and some oI their equipment, there will need
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to be changes to adapt to the system programs and environments oI Creative Colors. This could
include their uniIorms or attire, the computer systems that runs their cash registers and store
security, as well as their store displays and certain products. The last building block that will help
to re-establish the desired organizational culture in the rt Depot stores will be the
organizational structure (Jones, 2010). s Creative Colors just recently ventured through
organizational re-structuring to increase proIits, the owner should be readily able to demonstrate
and encourage the organizational structure change to be implemented in the rt Depot stores.
Like the restructuring in Creative Colors, the owner will experience certain resistance in
the rt Depot Iacilities to the organizational changes as well. Organizational change means that
employees have to work together to learn a new set oI values and rules, even iI they Ieel as iI the
old rules and values were eIIicient and did not need changing (Brown, 1997). The owner will
need to encourage participation through the organization Ior cooperation to their changes as well
as demonstrate understanding to any diIIiculties that the workers may have to this change. s rt
Depot has been Iunctioning in a low- cost strategy, their change will transition the company to a
diIIerentiation strategy to make their products more marketable (Jones, 2010). There are several
reasons as to which an employee would show resistance to change. The owner has to be aware oI
these reasons and implement a plan to combat these obstacles. ll employees have to be
committed to the implementation oI the change. Even iI they do not Ieel that it is necessary, they
have to agree to make that commitment to do whatever is necessary to bring about the change as
they could be an inIluence to another individual in the organization. Change has to also be
mandated to reduce the chances oI resistance. II employees are given an option, then they will
most likely take the path oI Iamiliarity. The opinions and Ieedback oI the employees, especially
those who are directly aIIected by the organizational change, have to be heard by management.
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Employees need to Ieel as iI their concerns are being taken into consideration and that their
opinion counts. Every member in the organization must be held accountable Ior their part in
making sure that the organizational change is eIIective. Each employee will be assigned an
activity that they must carry out that will relate to their aspect oI the organizational change. It is
their responsibility to make sure that this activity is completed. The owner oI Creative Colors can
oIIer rewards to the employees oI the rt Depot as a way oI encouraging them to implement and
not resist the organizational change. While everyone likes to be rewarded Ior good work, it is
important to ensure that the workers do not Ieel as iI they are being bought Ior their continued
services. Lastly, the owner has to evaluate to ensure that the organizational change has been
correctly implemented and that there is indeed a beneIit to the organization.
While Creative Colors has a long and stressIul road ahead oI them, iI the owner is able to
develop a smart and concise plan oI the various aspects oI the acquisition oI rt Depot and the
market that they want to gain, then the take-over oI these two Vancouver stores will be
successIul. lthough the competitive advantage oI rt Depot is not consistent with that oI
Creative Colors, by having an understanding oI the various and successIul ways to implement
organizational change, the owner will be able to establish her company as the lead oI rt Depot
as well as to encourage all oI their employees to commit to the changes that will beneIit the
organization.




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#010703.08
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Gallagher, S. (2008). Business Level Strategies. Retrieved Irom Why Does Firm PerIomance
DiIIer: http://educ.jmu.edu/~gallagsr/WDFPD-Business.pdI
Jacquier, B. (2010). Differentiation. Retrieved Irom EcoIine Integrated Knowledge:
http://www.ecoIine.com/strategy/diIIerenciation20stategy.htm
Jones, G. (2010). Organi:ational theory, design, and change (6th ed.). Upple Saddle River :
Prentice Hall.