The purpose of this report is to elucidate on the organisational change that has taken place at Little Chef (LC) Popham, UK as a blueprint for revitalising the Little Chef chain of roadside restaurants in the UK during 2008 and 2009.

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Assignment: Managing Change in Organisations, MBA. Student name and number

        -  -

University of Wales

MBA

Through Resource Development International (RDI)

Managing Change in Organisations

Assignment

Report on Change at Little Chef,

Popham, Hampshire

Submitted by:

………………

RDI Student No: ………….

University of Wales Student No: …………….

26 January 2010

Words, excluding Bibliography and Annexures, but

including an element of referencing = 4318 words

Report on Organisational Change

at Little Chef, Popham, Hampshire

Index

Page

1        Introduction and Terms of Reference                                 3

2        Research                                                                 3

3        Abbreviations                                                                3        

4        Little Chef, the case study                                                5

4.1        Background                                                                5

4.2        The main objectives of the organisational change                         6

5        Forcefield Analysis                                                         7

6        Evaluate of change management effectiveness                         16

6.1                Create a sense of urgency                                                17

6.2        Pull together the guiding team                                        18

6.3        Develop the change vision and strategy                                19

6.4        Communicate for understanding and buy-in                                20

6.5        Empower others to act                                                21

6.6          Produce short term wins                                                22

6.7        Don’t let up                                                                22

6.8        Create a new Culture                                                        23        

7        Assessing change objectives                                         23

7.1        Balanced Score Card                                                         25

7.1.1        Finance                                                                25

7.1.2        Customers                                                                26

7.1.3.         Business                                                                 27

7.1.4         Learning and growth                                                        27

7.15        Recommendations                                                        29

Bibliography                                                                        30

Annexures                                                                        36

Channel 4 Summaries of TV series                                                41        

Managing Change in Organisations

Report on the Business Process Transformation

Of Little Chef, Popham, UK

January 2010

1        Introduction and Terms of Reference

The purpose of this report is to elucidate on the organisational change that has taken place at Little Chef (LC) Popham, UK as a blueprint for revitalising the Little Chef chain of roadside restaurants in the UK during 2008 and 2009. The chain, a private limited company, was acquired by specialist private investment business, RCapital, a Limited Liability Partnership, in 2007.

The objective of the report is to:        

  • describe the organisational changes that have taken place in Little Chef since it has been under new management, and the purpose of the changes
  • analyse  the nature of the change
  • illustrate how change management models could have been used to identify the drivers of change,
  • evaluate the success of the complex change processes and make recommendations regarding further changes required to reach the objectives that were set out by the management of Little Chef.

2        Research

The following research methods were used to inform this report.

  1. Channel 4 Television ran a series on the LC transformation process in

their TV programmes “Big Chef takes on Little Chef” and “Did Heston Change Little Chef?”  in 2008 and 2009. This assignment is based on the TV programme. This Two Four Productions Limited series of 4 episodes, is available on podcast from ITunes on the Internet. and is summarised as Annexure 7.

  1. Secondary research on the internet and trade media.
  2. Personal visits, as a customer and resident in the area of Little Chef, Popham, over a period of three years

3        Abbreviations:  When referring to

  • The Change Agent – it will refer to the Chief Executive (CE) – Mr Ian Pegler
  • The Consultant – Mr Heston Blumenthal
  • The Pilot Restaurant or Popham refers to LC Popham Branch, Hampshire on the A303.

The change management team will refer to:

  • The Little Chef, Mr Ian Pegler and his team and the Consultant, Mr Heston Blumenthal and his team.

The Change Team Protagonists

To understand the context of this case study it is important to understand the term organisational change. Though there is no agreement among academics on the definition of organisational change an influential definition was given by Carter McNamara (1997). He refers to organisational change, as “the overall nature of activities e.g. their extent and rate that occurs during a project that aims to enhance the overall performance of the organisation. The activities are often led by a change agent or person responsible to guide the overall change effort. The activities are often project orientated (a one time project) and geared to address a current overall problem or goal in an organisation.” (Management Help 1997:21)

4                                Little Chef, the case study

1mage: Sensitive changes to iconic

Little Chef's "Fat Charlie" brand

from

4.1        Background

Little Chef, a chain of roadside restaurants, was originally created in 1958 to serve British motorists along A roads. The much loved iconic British brand with its “Fat Charlie” logo has undergone many changes of ownership in recent years.

The decline of the chain was however inevitable due to managerial neglect and lack of re-investment from the height of its operational success in February 2003.(Caterer 2009:1)

The case study: Little Chef 2007 – 2010

The premises throughout the chain were shabby, staff morale was low, customer service was poor and the reputation of Little Chef was seriously damaged.

The trading environment had changed drastically since the height of the Little Chef’s success. Motoring trends had changed and healthier food choices are now preferred. The business had reached a low point.  (Wachman R 2008:15)

        Complete  neglect        

                                        

Rescued

The Little Chef chain was rescued from administration in January 2007 when RCapital LLP, a private equity business owned by Messrs. Jamie Constable and Peter Ward, bought 176 Little Chef outlets for less than £10 million. (Caterer, 2009:1)

The scale of change needed to restore Little Chef to its former success and profitability was what Ackerman (1997) would term transformational change, affecting Little Chef’s structure, processes, culture and strategy. (Ackerman, 1997:2)

The change team set about changing LC, albeit amidst great turmoil.

4.2        The main objectives of the organisational change at corporate level in the short term:

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To turn the LC Popham restaurants around to profitability within a period of 6 months.

The long term corporate objective:

To create a culture of excellence that will continue to deliver quality and value to its customers, retain valued employees and generate wealth for its investors.

At a functional level: (Tutor2U, n.d.:3)

  • To renew the Little Chef brand including the Fat Charlie logo
  • To create a new menu to cater to their customers’ changed tastes,
  • To improve the food quality, through a business process transformation
  • To improve customer service
  • To ...

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