The Change Model Assignment Paper

Organizational change has always been a constant phenomenon for businesses. Most businesses have experienced different forms of change, and the success of those changes depended entirely on the change model and how well the process is executed. Organizational change is vital for businesses to help to create a competitive edge. When organizational change is well-executed using the suitable model, it can push the company in the right direction, enabling it to thrive even in challenging moments. Organizational change may include changes in policies, technology, structure, culture, strategy, procedures, and many others and is triggered by internal and external factors (Vlados, Deniozos, & Chatzinikolaou, 2018). For instance, amid the decelerating economic activities due to the covid-19 pandemic, the world has witnessed a growth in e-commerce and increased digital revolution, with many businesses going online. This essay explores the external change experienced by Freshkala grocery stores in the wake of covid-19 chaos and how the company responded to the changes, appropriate change model, and the impact of the change on the corporation’s, workers, shareholders, clients, the community, and the environment.

Freshkala, a Los Angeles Persian grocery store, is an example of those businesses that have responded effectively to external factors. Freshkala embarked on speeded up digitization of their supply chain and customer integrations and internal operations in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has seen an increasingly large number of shoppers relying on online grocery stores for daily shopping needs from frozen to fresh foods to non-perishable products and ingredients. Before the ravaging impacts of covid-19, Freshkala relied primarily on face-to-face customer relations, where customers could shop their groceries directly from the shop. The accelerated effects of covid-19 saw many governments imposing mandatory lockdown, forcing companies that relied on brick-and-motor business models and old technologies to change and target their customers through the online order and delivery model (Sitetrail 2021). 2020 marked a total shift to online shopping amid the strict lockdowns, and Freshkala was not left out of the equation.

Freshkala announced that they have successfully begun to ship groceries, non-perishable ingredients, and fresh foods across Los Angeles and other US states, becoming the new online Persian grocery outlet in town. With the surging number of shoppers turning to online venders to buy both fresh and frozen goods and non-perishable ingredients, Freshkala compiled varieties of Persian and other local brands and products on their online store, ranging from deli products, fresh produce, frozen and dry foods, dairy products, and many different assortments (Sitetrail 2021). The company aimed to satisfy all the client’s kitchen demands, from food ingredients to kitchenware.

Change Model: Lewin’s Organizational Change Model

The change model that describes Freshkala’s drastic shift from face-to-face customer relations to online interactions is Kurt Lewin’s organizational change model.  Lewin established a change management model encompassing three steps, unfreezing, changing and refreezing. The rationale for choosing this model is because it functions as the foundation for numerous contemporary change models, including the recent shift towards e-commerce and online retail triggered by the influence of the covid-19. It defines the fundamental of as successful change process. Lewin argued that change process begins by developing the view that a new approach is needed, changing towards the new, and ideal level of performance, and eventually, setting that new performance as the standard (Hussain et al., 2018).