Business Culture and Strategy Lo4

Business Culture and Strategy Assessment Lo4

a) Force Field Analysis is a management method by Kurt Lewin. There are forces which drive change and forces that restrain change. When there is an equilibrium between the two forces, there shall be no change. In order for change to occur, the driving force must exceed the restraining force.

In this case, there was a successful change in JD Wetherspoon pubs. There were three main reasons for JD Wetherspoon making changes. Firstly, society was developing, and the demand of consumers was expanding. This shall result in many consumers feeling dissatisfied with the pub not playing music or having a television. This is restraining for the company, however, JD Wetherspoon responded to this by creating a new branch of pubs- the Lloyds pub chain. Lloyds pub have both music and television, and is therefore much different to the original JD Wetherspoon pubs.

Secondly, there was increasing public and government concern about binge drinking and the consequent anti-social behaviour, particularly in city centres. Because most pubs belonging to JD Wetherspoon are located in city centres, JD Wetherspoon made some alterations to stop the pubs having a negative view on the public. Most the pubs were issued with a dedicated family dining area, where children and adults could eat together. By doing this, the pubs had a much more family orientated appearance to the public, and therefore, JD Wetherspoon did not appear to be supporting anti-social behaviour.

Thirdly, supermarkets began selling drinks, particularly premium lager, as loss-leader prices. This makes it difficult for pubs to compete on price and encourages drinking at home. Due to the changes, sales and profit growth had slowed down. This is extremely restraining for JD Wetherspoon, however the company continued to grow and make good profits. They began to serve food, which is available all day, and sold at relatively cheap prices. This would of helped attract more...