ResearchBuster: New Leaders and Strategic Change

The appointment of a new CEO often arises when a business wants and/or needs to achieve a significant change in performance and strategic direction.  Students writing about key topics such as leadership, internal causes of change, culture and strategic decision-making need to have some real-life examples in mind when they write their exam answers.  This research buster will provide a series of examples of firms which had opted to seek new leadership as part of a strategic change programme.  We’ll add additional examples and update relevant resource links as often as we can.

Case Study: Moya Greene (Royal Mail)

Moya Greene is appointed by the Royal Mail

Royal Mail chairman Donald Brydon said Ms Greene would bring “energy, clear thinking and a proven leadership track record” to the role.

The strategic issues facing Royal Mail
- Traditional ‘snail mail’ declining by an estimated 5pc a year, as the public transfers its communications to email, social networks, iPads and other faster, modern devices
- Letters and parcels business makes substantial losses
- Successive UK governments have attempted to introduce competition into the UK mail market
- Entrants into the market have tended to focus on the most profitable parts of the letters/parcels market, taking market share from Royal Mail
- The Royal Mail has 165,000 staff, which makes it the second-biggest employer in the UK after the NHS.

Greene’s strategy:
- Substantial rationalisation as part of an agreed business plan with the UK government (the owner of Royal Mail) in advance of a privatisation process.
- Greene claims to be putting in place ‘the biggest modernisation and change programme of any company in Britain’.
- “We have always been clear that Royal Mail would be a smaller and more efficient company over time. This change is naturally a difficult process for our people and we are committed to working closely with unions.”

Research links

Interview with Moya Greene - Britain’s Chief Postie Needs to Deliver (June 2011)
Royal Mail plans to shed 40,000 jobs by 2016
More posts to go after £120m loss

Case Study: Adam Crozier (ITV plc)

Career highlights 1995-1999 Saatchi & Saatchi, joint chief executive; 2000-2002 Football Association, chief executive; 2003-2010 Royal Mail, chief executive; 2010-present ITV chief executive

ITV appoints Adam Crozier
ITV boss Adam Crozier admits ‘a lot needs fixing
Crozier puts ITV to rights (March 2011)

Key strategic issues facing ITV:

- Over a 10-year period ITV lost about 40pc of its share of viewing because of increased choice (proliferation of digital channels + growth of online)
- Exposed to highly cyclical advertising revenues
- “For the past decade ITV has not faced up to the challenges presented by the rise of internet-based platforms, the continuing growth of pay TV and subscription services and the globalisation of content.”
- “Re-shaping the economics of ITV will require changes not only to the strategy but also to ITV’s management, culture and organisation and to deliver this we are today announcing a five year Transformation Plan.”
- When Crozier arrived, ITV’s debt looked too high (£600m+), there was a deficit in the pension fund and ITV needed to invest in new programmes

One year on:
- Debt has fallen to

<£200m
- Friends Reunited sold + other disposals of non-core businesses
- New senior management team recruited
- Staff development programme for the top 150 employees launched
- Delivered annual cost efficiencies of £31 million

Four priorities of Crozier’s Transformation Plan [change management]
- Create a new lean, creatively dynamic and fit for purpose organisation
- Maximise audience and revenue share from existing free-to-air broadcast business
- Drive new revenue streams by exploiting our content across multiple platforms, free and pay
- Build a strong international content business

BUSS4 - a clash of culture and a failed takeover [24 May 2012]
Rising to the top of the milk [22 May 2012]
Paul Polman (Unilever CEO) on cultural change, leadership, Asia and Corporate Social Responsibility [27 Apr 2012]
Vodafone and Cable and Wireless Worldwide [25 Apr 2012]
Flaws in Tesco’s strategy [24 Apr 2012]
Irene Rosenfeld on Leadership, Transformation, and THAT takeover [18 Apr 2012]
Sony - Hirai’s Turnaround Strategy - in Video Clips [13 Apr 2012]
Organisational culture, strategy and performance in fewer than 1000 words [9 Apr 2012]
ResearchBuster: Acquisitions [8 Apr 2012]
Revision Presentation - Change Management [5 Apr 2012]
Revision Presentation - Leadership [5 Apr 2012]
Revision Presentation - Business Culture [4 Apr 2012]
Revision Presentation - Retrenchment [4 Apr 2012]
ResearchBuster: Retrenchment [4 Apr 2012]
The Main Motives Behind Takeovers and Mergers [26 Mar 2012]
Women & Leadership [22 Mar 2012]
Sony - All Change at the Top with a new CEO [12 Mar 2012]
Apple’s new CEO and a new iPad - A Change in Leadership [9 Mar 2012]
Mergers in Action - All Systems Go for United? [5 Mar 2012]
Takeover troubles - Has the Co=operative got Indigestion with the Somerfield Integration? [5 Mar 2012]
VW targets growth markets [26 Feb 2012]
Barriers to entry for business expansion to Brazil [23 Feb 2012]
Takeover insights: Kraft & Cadbury - Justifying the Deal [22 Feb 2012]
The Strategic Challenges Facing International Airlines Group - Interview with Willie Walsh [14 Feb 2012]
The Leadership Style of Willie Walsh - In Quotes [14 Feb 2012]
Ideas not Hierarchy Makes a Business - Steve Jobs on Teamwork & Culture [13 Feb 2012]
Innovation in Business - Perspectives from Stephen Elop (CEO of Nokia) [12 Feb 2012]
Glenstrata - Glencore proposes merger with Xstrata [3 Feb 2012]
Success for the Daily Mail’s online strategy [30 Jan 2012]
Leadership - Howard Schultz on the importance of leading an innovative culture [29 Jan 2012]
Leadership - what is the best leadership style? It depends on the “situation”! [29 Jan 2012]
Leadership - Tough decisions to turn Starbucks around [29 Jan 2012]
Leadership - 40 examples of leadership at the movies in just 120 seconds [29 Jan 2012]
Leadership - what qualities does an effective leader and manager have? [29 Jan 2012]
Schultz on Leadership, Love and the Competitive Advantage of Culture [29 Jan 2012]
Leadership - it’s not a popularity contest [29 Jan 2012]
What’s gone wrong for Kodak? [19 Jan 2012]
Straight-talking answers to business questions - the examiners might hate some of this! [12 Dec 2011]
International operations decisions - Adidas trainers for $1? [26 Nov 2011]
Leadership video - A heartfelt apology from the boss [15 Oct 2011]
Management By Committee? Not At Apple [9 Oct 2011]
Virtual shopping - Tesco in South Korea [6 Oct 2011]
Selling Bread - Classic Adverts [6 Oct 2011]
Leadership styles for effective change management - Morgan Freeman style [29 Sep 2011]
Autocratic leadership style in action - Basil v Manuel [22 Sep 2011]
Inspiring leadership? [19 Sep 2011]
Waitrose Strategy Essay [13 Sep 2011]
Olaf takes the knife to management hierarchy [5 Sep 2011]
How can Tesco’s be “Unscalable?”-First lesson/research task into companies in different markets [31 Aug 2011]
Leadership - Farewell to Steve Jobs [24 Aug 2011]
The Case for Transformation [29 Jul 2011]
Sir Ken Robinson on Creative Leadership [20 Jul 2011]
Rupert Murdoch and Leadership - Should a CEO Know What’s Going On? [20 Jul 2011]
Leaders’ Weaknesses [4 Jul 2011]
Leadership, Culture and Trust - A Letter from Sir Richard Branson [1 Jul 2011]
Retrenchment for Thorntons following strategic review [28 Jun 2011]
Nokia and Strategic Change - the Essential A2 Business Case [17 Jun 2011]
Strategic change for the Guardian - from print to digital [17 Jun 2011]
CSR & Strategy - Why the Cooperative Group changed to survive [16 Jun 2011]
A2 Business: Six key global trends that are shaping business strategy [15 Jun 2011]
Leadership styles - the importance of listening [14 Jun 2011]
Mothercare’s change of strategic focus - Updated [13 Jun 2011]
Leadership - a crisis of confidence? [13 Jun 2011]
ResearchBuster: Organic Growth [7 Jun 2011]
What makes Ferguson great? [27 May 2011]
Nestle and Diversification - Investing in Healthcare [25 May 2011]
Strategy explained - Insights into Amazon [13 May 2011]
Retrenchment in action - Comet turns off the retail lights [12 May 2011]
Tesco’s overseas strategy: next steps [10 May 2011]
CSR and Business Legislation - The Bribery Act comes to town [5 May 2011]
Whitbread goes for organic growth [2 May 2011]
Horizontal integration in action - Virgin grabs Esporta [26 Apr 2011]
HMV Strategy - Death of a Billion Downloads [24 Apr 2011]
Tesco -  The right strategy in the US? [23 Apr 2011]
Leadership and the Golden Circle [21 Apr 2011]
Leadership - a triumph of youth over experience? [6 Apr 2011]
Leadership Resource - Every Little Helps [16 Mar 2011]
Change management - Kraft and Cadbury One Year On (FT) [14 Mar 2011]
Howard Schultz - A Changed Starbucks. A Changed C.E.O [13 Mar 2011]
CSR becomes the Strategy for Co-operative [5 Mar 2011]
External growth - Diageo on the acquisition trail [21 Feb 2011]
Michael Porter - Shared Value and the Limitations of CSR [15 Feb 2011]
Cadbury and Kraft One Year On - Culture and Change [12 Feb 2011]
Nokia CEO - Standing on a Burning Platform [9 Feb 2011]
Leadership - can Apple really be a one-man band? [19 Jan 2011]
Training, social immobility and tuition fees - KPMG’s blueprint solution [13 Jan 2011]
What strategy should HMV employ next? [6 Jan 2011]
Lessons in leadership [5 Jan 2011]
Meet Sir Terry Leahy at the Business Teacher National Conference 2011 [18 Dec 2010]
Bruce Poon Tip exploits a huge Gap in the adventure market [12 Dec 2010]
Dominos Pizza - Growth & Strategy (Part 1) - Driving Competitive Advantage [26 Nov 2010]
Leadership in action - A Day in the Life of Willie Walsh [25 Oct 2010]
Rationalising & Redeployment at Alliance Boots [9 Oct 2010]
Leadership skills of the new CEO drive profits at Pret [8 Oct 2010]
Culture & Change - The Challenge Facing Nokia [27 Sep 2010]
Leadership & Strategy - “Welcome to Nokia” [20 Sep 2010]
Strategy in Action: “Buying Growth is Not a Strategy” [20 Sep 2010]
Can new leadership revive Nokia’s fortunes [12 Sep 2010]
Ryanair contemplates a change in leadership style? [12 Sep 2010]
Can small firms shrug off their recession trauma? [2 Sep 2010]

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