Article

Managing Change for Better: Asia-Pacific Journal of Management

Research and Innovation

New Zealand Dairy Products

12(1) 85–94
© 2016 Asia-Pacific
Institute of Management
Bangladesh Ltd SAGE Publications
sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/2319510X16647295
http://apjmri.sagepub.com

Nazlee Siddiqui1
Jashim Uddin Ahmed2

Abstract
Effective management of change presents an ongoing series of challenges for organisations, especially for the ones operating in third
world countries. This case study has depicted a rare story of successful change management of a real-life organisation, New Zealand
Dairy Products Bangladesh Ltd (NZDPBL), articulating experiences such as change of ownership, legal battle, retrenchment and new
leadership that took place between years 2002 and 2012. Data for this case were collected between April 2011 and June 2012, mostly
through semi-structured interviews of the managing director and six other employees at NZDPBL. The purpose of the case study is
to offer management insights to business students and managers. These insights were developed through an exposure to practitioner’s
perspective and relevance of that perspective to literature of organisational change management. Authors find that five organisational
features for successful change management, that is, organisational structure, organisational culture, organisational learning, managerial
behaviour and power and politics, as proposed by scholars, were relevant in the case of NZDPBL. Furthermore, managers are urged
to work on these five features collectively for effective management of change. Since the account of NZDPBL evidenced an overlap in
the influence of these five features.

Keywords
New Zealand Dairy Products Bangladesh Ltd, case study, change management, five organisational features for successful change
management

Introduction organisation’s focuses on a real-life organisation, that is,

New Zealand Dairy Products Bangladesh Ltd (NZDPBL),
Change is a complex dynamic, which is at the heart of approach to change to generate pragmatic learning of
organisational life (McClellan, 2011). Change includes change management in the context of a third world country
relinquishing old ways and replacing them with new think- such as Bangladesh. Albeit the country context, since
ing and behaving (Ferrazzi, 2014; Tsoukas & Chia, 2002). NZDPBL is a case of successful change management, this
Change is also known to be intertwined with the processes article is a worthy addition to literature. In an era where
of creativity and organisational innovation (Schermerhorn, organisational changes are frequently poorly managed
2010). Organisational scholars endorse that ‘Managing (Probst & Raisch, 2005) and very rarely seen to enhance
change is tough’ (Sirkin, Keenan & Jackson, 2005, p. 109) true performances (Meaney & Pung, 2008), NZDPBL’s
and that it may reflect both sides of the coin: possibility success story provides valuable insights for organisational
of loss as well as gain (Burnes, 2000, p. 475) and the un- change management.
anticipated outcomes along with the anticipated ones It has been argued that most organisations’ approach
(Hughes, 2011). In fact, the anxiety and difficulties of to changes lies on a spectrum between the planned and
change management is an ongoing challenge for organisa- the emergent change (Burnes, 2000; Mintzberg & Waters,
tions (Burnes, 2009; Ferrazzi, 2014; Wolverton, 1998). 1985). The essence of planned change, referred to as

1 Lecturer, Tasmanian School of Business & Economics, University of Tasmania, Rozelle, NSW, Australia.
2 Professor, Department of Management, School of Business & Economics North South University, Bashundhara, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Corresponding author:
Nazlee Siddiqui, Lecturer, Tasmanian School of Business & Economics, University of Tasmania, Rozelle, NSW 2039, Australia.
E-mail: nazlee.siddiqui@utas.edu.au
86 Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation 12(1)

Table 1. Organisational Features Critical to Successful Change

Organisational Features Definition

Organisational structure The formal and informal hierarchies through which people function with internal and external
stakeholders and create momentum for change. Customer responsiveness for internal and
external stakeholders promotes a structure that quickly adapts to change.
Organisational culture The values and ways of doing things in an organisation. Changes that are aligned to the values
of the people in the organisation are more likely to be successful.
Organisational learning An open management style that facilitates collective learning, knowledge generation and
new initiatives in staff. Questioning the status quo is a healthy element for organisational
learning and change management.
Managerial behaviour A leadership style where managers become coaches for change, rather than somebody dictating
from the top. Open communication between leader and followers and cross-functional expertise
of the leader are reflections of good managerial behaviour.
Power & politics Negotiating and mobilising different sources of power, internal and external to the organisation,
for better resource utilisation, resolution of opposing conflicts and consequently, support for
change management.
Source: Adapted from Burnes (2009, pp. 375–384).

Lewin’s (1958) three-stage model of change (i.e., unfreezing 2013). In 2004, NZDPBL came under Bangladesh owner-
the present, changing the present and refreezing the new), ship as Mr M* purchased the organisation in collaboration
which involves preconceived and top-down planning with other local investors. However, as has been described
finds its appropriateness in a dynamic environment in- in the following sections, the purchase reflects more of an
creasingly questioned (Dawson, 2003; Lovell, 1995). On emergent change approach since Mr M* did not proac-
the other hand, emergent change approaches have received tively plan to take over NZDPBL. Then again, Mr M* had
momentum in the business literature in recent period shaped the long-term process of change at NZDPBL with
(Özlem Çetinkaya & Adnan, 2013). Emergent approach to much greater involvement than that of anybody else in the
change appreciates unpredictable nature of change (Burnes, organisation, which resembles the top-down element
2000), covering stream of actions that are not associated of planned change (Burnes, 2009).
with preconceived and concrete plans (Mintzberg, 1987). In this case study, at the latter part, possible learning from
However, authors of this case study are supportive of the NZDPBL’s experiences of changes is discussed according to
view that an organisation rarely witnesses a pure form five features of organisation as defined in Table 1. Burnes
of emergent change (Mintzberg & Waters, 1985). Authors (2009) endorsed the five organisational features to be deter-
accept that emergent and planned approaches are not mutu- minants of successful change and furthermore clarified
ally exclusive, since each of these approaches can comple- such endorsement to be aligned to that of advocates of emer-
ment organisational performances depending on specific gent change. Nevertheless, in this case study, the features
situation an organisation encounters (Andersen & Nielsen, are simply a suitable framework to apprehend NZDPBL’s
2009). While it is not the intention of this case study to experiences of changes and fulfil the purpose to generate
scrutinise differences between planned and emergent pragmatic learning for change management.
change, it can be clarified that NZDPBL’s change experi- The remaining of this article is organised into three main
ences exhibited elements of both these changes. sections, that is, case study research design, the NZDPBL
The story of Bangladeshi-owned NZDPBL is shaped case and the discussion of learning from NZDPBL’s change
by Mr M* (a pseudo-name), who is currently the major management. The section of NZDPBL case is organised
shareholder (owns 65 per cent of the shares) and the active with information for diagnosis for change, specific change
managing director of the organisation. He had joined interventions and success of NZDBPL’s change manage-
NZDPBL in the year of 2002 as the head of commercial ment, building possible evidence of a linkage between
function. Within a year, which is in 2003, Mr M* was com- organisational change and performance outcomes (Burnes,
mended for his hard work and promoted to the position of 2011; Özlem Çetinkaya & Adnan, 2013).
managing director. At that time, NZDPBL was operating in
Bangladesh as a full subsidiary of Fonterra Co-operative
Group (from now on referred as Fonterra). Fonterra is Case Study Research Design
a co-operatively owned organisation by New Zealand The research design adopted is an in-depth, single and
farmers and is in the league of biggest milk powder manu- qualitative case study (Yin, 2009). The literature (Gerring,
facturers in the world (Fonterra Co-operative Group, 2007; Robson, 1993) has articulated quite well how
Siddiqui and Ahmed 87

qualitative research is suitable to understand the true nature Narrative constructs were employed to analyse the qual-
of the realities of practical contexts. Moreover, it has been itative data in this case study. Buchanan and Dawson
argued that case study can be a stand-alone research (2007, p. 672) explained narrative constructs as discourses
method (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011) when researchers are that relate ‘consequences to antecedents through event
dealing with ‘how’ or ‘why’ queries (Yin, 2009). Therefore, sequences in context over time’. The conversational and
case study design seemed suitable as authors were inter- reflective approach of narrative construct is known to be
ested to know why NZDPBL was making the change and conducive to draw meaning from multidimensional change
how and what factors facilitated success in that change processes in organisations (Buchanan & Dawson, 2007).
management. In terms of organisational access, the case The initial analysis involved each of the authors arriving at
was bound by data collected from April 2011 to June 2012. composite narrative constructs (Dunford & Jones, 2000),
During this period, real-time data were gathered across compiled from the collective views of interviews and
organisational functions, allowing the author(s) to capture document reviews. After creating these independent con-
the evolving conceptualisations of change by people in
tents, the authors jointly developed a coherent, single change
the organisation. One of the authors in this article is an
narrative that depicted NZDPBL’s journey for change in
ex-employee of NZDPBL, who worked in the marketing
sequence of previous position, the introduction of parti-
function as a mid-level manager between years 2002 and
cular change events and its impact. This joint review
2003. This author’s involvement in this research helped to
understand events as described by employees, and more- process between authors mitigated impact of researchers’
over, to open lines of enquiries and thoughts in longitudinal possible biases on the final narrative constructs (Creswell
perspectives between years 2002 and 2012. & Plano Clark, 2007).
Data for NZDPBL have been collected with methods of There is no ethical review process in practice, by which
documentary reviews (Ahmed, 2010) and one-on-one this case study could receive a formal ethical clearance in
semi-structured interview (Fylan, 2005). Examples of Bangladesh. However, authors consulted the case study
document sources reviewed are archival data from annual with the research committee at North South University in
reports and media clippings of the organisation, organisa- Bangladesh (the university at which one of the authors is
tion’s website and electronic newspaper reporting about working) and followed a research process that was respect-
the organisation. In regards to semi-structured interviews, ful to all those who were involved in this inquiry. Some
seven interviewees, were selected from the head office of the steps of ethical protocol included attaining support
with a sampling process of purposive maximum variation for this research from the managing director of NZDPBL,
type (Kuper, Lingard & Levinson, 2008; Teddlie & conducting interviews at preferred timing and mode
Yu, 2007). Screening of interviewees was controlled to (i.e., face-to-face vs. phone) of the interviewees, not dis-
ensure employees from different ranks of management closing names of any of the interviewees, voluntary partici-
(i.e., senior, middle and entry level) and functions (i.e., pation of all the interviewees and ensuring the case study is
marketing, sales and general management) were covered in published only for academic purpose.
the interview pool. It should be noted that the sampling
rationale was not to compare findings from different inter-
viewees but to refine understanding of change manage- The Case: New Zealand Dairy
ment from key informants (Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2007). Products Bangladesh Ltd
Therefore, despite following a lower end of the conven-
New Zealand Dairy Products Bangladesh Ltd has been
tional sample size of qualitative study, given that each
operating in the dairy sector in Bangladesh for more than
of the interviewees had at least 2 years of experience in
20 years. The main operation of the organisation is packag-
the organisation, authors could draw adequate data for
meaningful insights. The interviewees in this study are ing of imported milk powders for non-infant consumer
Mr M*, the managing director; the production manager segment. In 2011, NZDPBL had more than 30 per cent of
(senior-level management); head of sales (senior-level the market share in milk powder category (in volume) in
management); sales officer (entry-level management); Bangladesh, with brands such as Diploma (13 per cent),
brand manager (middle-level management); human resource Anchor (7 per cent), Red Cow (6 per cent) and others
manager (middle-level management); and finance officer (5 per cent) (New Zealand Dairy Products Bangladesh
(entry-level management). A point to note is that in this Ltd, 2012). New Zealand Dairy Products Bangladesh Ltd
case study, Mr M*’s role as a key informant was more has faced various challenges in its 20 years of operation.
dominant than that of the other interviewees. This was A significant challenge as such was the transfer of owner-
necessary as, in comparison to other interviewees, his ship in year 2004, from a foreign entity to local owners in
involvement with change management was very extensive. Bangladesh. The sales growth in NZDPBL, evidenced by
Therefore, authors felt that the limitation of probable bias increased sale of 610 tons of milk powder in 2011 com-
from Mr M* was compensated by the rich data of change pared to that of 210 tons in 2005, indicates the positive
management that he generated. influence from the change of ownership.
88 Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation 12(1)

On 15 May 2012, the authors found the top manage- no clear communication to update employees on the pro-
ment at NZDPBL preparing for the board meeting of the gress of court cases.
year. This meeting was taking place in the presence of all The other difficulty of the organisation came from its tie
the shareholders at the organisation’s own office space. with Fonterra. The production head explained NZDPBL’s
The meeting agenda covered the proposed budget for the relationship with Fonterra to be a mixed blessing. New
upcoming year and most importantly the expansion plans Zealand Dairy Products Bangladesh Ltd was bound to keep
of NZDPBL in food sector. Mr M* (personal communica- Fonterra as the sole supplier of milk powder, in accordance
tion, 15 May 2012) mentioned, to the subsidiary agreement. Such agreement ensured steady
supply for production, but sometimes it made NZDPBL buy
I am very optimistic of NZDPBL, as we are planning big the milk powder at high and non-competitive prices. The
expansion into food sector with products of international challenge was that consumers are likely to reject a price
quality…this has been our dream all along but it is not just increase, particularly if it is due to non-competitive sourc-
about making money, it is about proving that local organisa- ing cost. Hence, at times, NZDPBL had to sell its products
tions and people can run successful businesses with quality at cost or even at negative margin. Quite a few times,
products. NZDPBL ended up buying lesser quality specifications of
milk powder as the last resort. Fonterra was not engaged
The apparent enthusiasm in the above quote is a drastic enough with the operations in Bangladesh to appreciate
change from what used to prevail in this organization about the financial crisis that NZDPBL faced from such non-
10 years ago. This case study will trail NZDPBL’s journey competitive pricing of milk powder. Another blow in the
of change management between years 2002 and 2012, the financials of NZDPBL was the 51.5 per cent import duty
first section of which is diagnosis for change. structure of the imported milk powder in Bangladesh, till
the financial year of 2008–2009 (Ahsan, 2012).
Diagnosis for Change Around the end of year 2003, Fonterra became anxious
to sell its subsidiary, the NZDPBL, due to recurrent losses,
This section discusses certain difficulties that NZDPBL uncertain court cases and stiff price competition from
had faced in its functioning, prior to the change of owner- few of the competing brands (e.g., DANO and MARKS).
ship. Here, the intention is to orient readers with symptoms By then, Fonterra started withdrawing its developmental
that signal requirement for change in an organisation. activities for NZDPBL. For example, NZDPBL was not
Since early days of joining at NZDPBL in year 2002, permitted to launch a new global brand in Bangladesh.
Mr M* found the organisation faced difficulties from mul- Opportunities for employee training and salary increase
tiple ends. The most critical one in the list was the court were constrained through budget restrictions. Fonterra’s
cases for ‘Red Cow’ and ‘Diploma’ brands, in which a desire for sale was also partly associated with its broken
local giant (from now referred as XYZ) was claiming own- trust with the top man (from now referred as Mr ABC) at
ership of these brands. XYZ used to be the licence holder NZDPBL, who had been a general manager and then
for distributorship of these two brands in the past. However, managing director approximately till mid of 2003. There
through a global strategic move at Fonterra end, the licence were allegations of financial mismanagement against
of ownership of ‘Red Cow’ and ‘Diploma’ had shifted Mr ABC and the senior management’s loyalty became
to NZDPBL (Mr M*, personal communication, 15 May divided between Mr ABC and Fonterra. Throughout the
2012). During the period of the court case, the facts about organisation, employee morale was extremely low since
shifting of ownership of the brands were diluted especially people were unsure of who (Mr ABC or the Fonterra) could
with false media campaigns by XYZ. The distributors of provide them viable vision and climate. In the second half
NZDPBL, that is, parties who do the critical task of selling of 2003, Fonterra took a stand to end the turmoil of divided
NZDPBL brands to the wholesale and retail chains, were senior management. That is, the parent company dismissed
also one of the victims of the false campaigns. The critical- Mr ABC and awarded Mr M* the role of managing direc-
ity was that ‘Diploma’ is the volume earner in the market tor. Mr M* was also assigned to act as chief coordinator to
and any prospect of NZDPBL not having these brands in sell NZDPBL to any interested and credible party. It was
its portfolio meant a much lesser profitable future for the not an easy task to get a buyer for NZDPBL because of
distributors. On top of this, progress in the pending case its poor financial status and pending court cases. Eight
proceedings was quite sluggish, due to unstructured prac- months in the process of negotiating with few potential
tices in the judicial system in Bangladesh. New Zealand buyers, the hub managers at Fonterra became impatient
Dairy Products Bangladesh Ltd needed to pursue the and offered to sell NZDPBL to Mr M*.
matter with utmost dedication to get the system rolling.
Unfortunately such effort was lacking from NZDPBL in
those years; consequently, the case hearing dates were Interventions for Change
scheduled at a very slow pace. Employees at NZDPBL suf- Intervention refers to purposeful actions that can change
fered from feeling of uncertainty as well, since there was an organization towards more effective state (Cummings
Siddiqui and Ahmed 89

&Worley, 2009). This section will describe few specific example, shifting the office location from a costly
interventions at NZDPBL, starting from Mr M’s purchase business centre (i.e., BRAC Centre in Dhaka) to low-cost
of NZDPBL. rented option were taken to achieve cost effectiveness in
Purchasing NZDPBL the organisation.
The other essential intervention was arriving at a lesser
In 2004, Mr M* felt that change of ownership of NZDPBL costly and flatter organisational structure. A major initia-
had become a necessity and purchased the organisation in tive in this regard was retrenchment, mostly of the people
collaboration with other investors. The following excerpts who exhibited rigidity to new ways of working due to
from Mr M*’s interview (personal communication, 29 May loyalty to the previous MD, Mr ABC. Such retrench-
2012) can convey his motivation behind the purchase: ment helped Mr M* to arrive at the desired organisational
structure and furthermore met another objective. With the
I could see the positives and negatives of owning NZDPBL
departure of employees who exhibited rigidity, the remain-
quite clearly. On the positive side, there was a ready factory
infrastructure and a group of people committed to the pros- ing ones understood that commitment and flexibility will
pect of NZDPBL. Whereas, the negatives were; the pending be the norm in the changed organisation. As few of the
court cases with a local giant, deficiency of working capital positions were filled up with young and aspiring business
and poor profitability. The profitability crisis was not just graduates, NZDPBL also gained employees who had high
due to price volatility of the milk powder but also about high morale and eagerness to promote change. Another point to
operating expenditure. Coming from a financial background, note here is Mr M* was very cautious that the downsizing
I could foresee that NZDPBL could have a sustainable profit should not create any negative impact on the morale of
margin even without the possession of the disputed brands the remaining employees. Accordingly, all the employees
(i.e. Red Cow, Diploma), provided the operating expenditures
who left during the transfer of ownership were given sepa-
are cut down. However, it was important to win the court cases
ration benefit. In fact, the separation benefits were paid by
to prove to all stakeholders (e.g. the employees, the distribu-
tors, the shareholders) that NZDPBL is the true owner of the Fonterra as Mr M* had negotiated the matter as a crucial
disputed brands. So, there was opportunity to build a better condition for the purchase.
organisation, which will have support from its own people and
Legal Battle: Court Cases
will sell quality products in Bangladesh market.
The head of sales at NZDPBL reflected on the changes
The above note clarifies Mr M*’s decision to purchase in the organisation with discussion of ‘Diploma’ and ‘Red
NZDPBL stemmed from a vision. His vision was to lead a Cow’ court cases. He explained that in order to create
change through people that will see NZDPBL getting back momentum in the pending court cases, strong leadership
its brands and marketing quality products in Bangladesh. was required in the legal panel representing NZDPBL. Few
He knew that the vision would be sustainable, if NZDPBL steps that were taken in this regard were (i) changing the
could bring down its expenditures. The challenge was to lead lawyer in the legal panel, (ii) establishing a dedicated
arrive at the reduced expenditure without compromising team to pursue the case at the root level in the judiciary
product quality and employee morale so that the changed system and (iii) Mr M* and the head of sales providing
status truly reflects a more effective organisation. The fol- update of the court cases to employees during quarterly
lowing are few more interventions that helped NZDPBL to brand review meetings. While the first two steps were
move towards more effective state. about enhancing the process in the complicated judiciary
system, the last step was necessary to reduce uncertainty in
Cost-Effective Organisation
employee’s mind. NZDPBL employees were communi-
New Zealand Dairy Products Bangladesh Ltd’s move cated while the organisation could survive without the
towards a cost-effective organisation started with the very disputed brands, the winning of court cases is still impor-
process of change of ownership from Fonterra. With the tant to prove to consumers that NZDPBL suffered unduly
advice of financial and legal experts, Mr M* learnt that in the country’s judicial system.
ownership change would be more costly if a new company
had to be formed. Hence, the ownership change was con- Negotiating with the Stakeholders
ducted through a process of share transfer rather than It is common knowledge that an organisation travels
creation of a new entity. This process was less costly and towards its vision, in partnership with stakeholders.
at the same time ensured that after the transfer of shares, Management decisions about organisational purposes and
NZDPBL will carry the previous status of assets (movable, strategies are also influenced by the expectations of stake-
immovable and intellectual property), liabilities, rights and holders (Johnson, Whittington & Scholes, 2011). An organi-
obligations. One implication of this smooth share transfer sation’s list of stakeholders can include the channels who
is that NZDPBL could continue to market all the previous supply the raw materials or distribute the end products to
brands even after the change of ownership. In addition consumers, the media whose opinion are heard by the end
to such strategic steps, few more operational steps, for users, the employee who collaborate to develop the product
90 Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation 12(1)

and the regulators who define the parameters for operating continues, this section will point to certain evidence that
in the market. NZDPBL, post to ownership change, initi- indicates initial success in change management. New
ated new dialogue with many of its stakeholders. NZDPBL Zealand Dairy Products Bangladesh Ltd’s move towards
negotiated a multi-supplier arrangement that allowed cost effective organisation seems to be working. Thanks to
breaking the status quo and source milk powder from reduction in operating expenditure and increase in sales
another well-reputed supplier in supplement to Fonterra. volume, the organisation is currently enjoying profit. This
The multi-supplier arrangement countered the pressure is a contrast to the position in year 2005, when NZDBPL
to source milk powder at non-competitive price and ran on a loss of approximately US $100,000 a month
facilitated improved profitability. (Mr M*, personal communication, 20 May 2011). On top
In the list of stakeholders of NZDPBL, two other impor- of improved profitability, the organisation is representing
tant ones are the Government of Bangladesh and distribu- young leadership in business. For instance, young gradu-
tors. In Bangladesh, the imported milk powder category ates from universities were found in the strategic positions
was taxed at the rate of 51.5 per cent in the fiscal year of of sales and marketing functions at NZDPBL. During
2009 and 2010. Mr M* along with the management team at discussion with a brand manager (Brand Manager, per-
NZDPBL fought to lobby a reduction in the import duty sonal communication, 15 May 2012), who was recruited
rate. A strategic move in this regard was to get endorsement after the change of ownership and belongs to the young
of High Commission of Australia and New Zealand in this business graduate segment, the following was learnt:
campaign through the channel of suppliers (i.e., Murray
Goulburn of Australia and Fonterra of New Zealand). In As a business graduate from a reputed university, I had few
the year of 2005, there were 82 distributors who collabo- job options in my hand. I wanted to join an organisation where
rated with NZDPBL to deliver the end products to 17,000 I will be taken care of and be rewarded for my hard work.
As I have been working here at strategic level, with the busi-
outlets (Mr M*, personal communication, 8 May 2011). As
ness expansion plans; I understand that I am in the right place.
indicated earlier, relationship with this pivotal stakeholder NZDPBL is a fair employer, where one can remain committed
was diluted due to confusion about ownership of disputed and be rewarded with progression.
brands. Reflecting on this situation, the sales team at
NZDPBL was given additional budget to develop transpar- The above statement resonated with the positive feedback
ent relationship with distributors with measures such as of few other people that we interacted with at NZDPBL.
regular communication about court cases and faster resolu- The morale of employees is high now, which is a far
tion of distributors’ claims for product returns. contrast to that of year 2002–2003 when employees were
Before ending this section, it is important to touch on suffering from lack of leadership.
the other influential stakeholder, that is, the media. A brand There is good news with the court cases as well. In year
manager at NZDPBL explained the challenge of balancing 2009, the court had given verdict that NZDPBL is the true
between budget availability and maintaining an effective owner of the ‘Red Cow’ and ‘Diploma’ brands. The favour-
presence in the media. Unlike the regular Television able verdict of the case rewarded more financial stability
Commercial (TVCs) of old times (i.e., prior to ownership to NZDPBL as the organisation can now freely sell the
change), now NZDPBL ran fewer TVCs and small but disputed brands. Such restriction-free marketing partly
consistent campaigns such as ‘world osteoporosis day’, contributed to the 300 per cent volume growth between
‘cooking recipe competition’ and donation for women the years of 2005 and 2011 (New Zealand Dairy Products
schools. Despite being small budget events, these cam- Bangladesh Ltd, 2012). Moreover, the win of the court
paigns are regarded highly in the organisation and all cases generated tremendous sense of achievement in
the senior-level managers, including Mr M*, personally employees of every level at NZDPBL. The organisation
participate in these events. NZDPBL has also launched made the best out of this win by celebrating the verdict
its own website that showcases organisational values, the with a grand distributor conference (Anonymous, 2009).
strength of the brands, quality certifications (ISO 22000: NZDPBL has also enjoyed success in its negotiations
2005), consumer promotions, etc. Moreover, media part- with stakeholders. The campaign for import duty reduction
ners are cordially invited while conducting distributor on imported milk powder was effective in achieving about
conferences and other ceremonial events. 40 per cent tax reduction in the 2010–2011 fiscal budget
(Ahsan, 2012). Moreover, the organisation has become a
stronger marketer through the launch of local brands such
Success of the Change Interventions
as Calci-Pro and Shape Up. These brands have value-
Organisational scholars have advocated assessing success added proposition of health and fitness and are fitting
of change management through performance outcomes with NZDPBL’s vision of promoting quality products in
such as effectiveness with cost, quality and employee behav- the Bangladesh market. Furthermore, the organisation
iour (Burnes & Jackson, 2011; Shin, Taylor & Seo, 2012). obtained certification of ISO 22000:2005 (food safety
While NZDPBL’s journey about change management still management system) in 2009, as an endorsement of high
Siddiqui and Ahmed 91

standard in its food production process. Currently, the years 2002 and 2012. In this section, authors will discuss
management team at NZDPBL is brainstorming future possible pragmatic learning from the case of NZDBPL in
business expansions with food products of international line with the five features of determinants of success-
quality. With combination of factors such as commitment ful change (Burnes, 2009). Figure 1 depicts elements of the
to quality products, growing sales volume and improved five features as experienced in the successful change
profitability, NZDPBL has become a lucrative partner to management of NZDPBL.
stakeholders, for example, distributors and banks. The In line with Table 1, the feature of ‘organisational struc-
relationship with distributors has improved, as partnerships ture’ should reflect whether informal and formal hierarchies
with NZDPBL are much more profitable now. Similarly, and factors such as customer responsiveness positively
improved financial status of the organisation has made influenced the momentum for change at NZDPBL (Burnes,
banks confident to extend credit to NZDPBL for future 2009; Carnall, 2003). The informal hierarchies delegate
business expansions. The organisation is now employing required scope of work in functioning teams within the
around 400 people (about 30 per cent growth from that of organisations (O’Neill, 1994), while the formal hierarchies
the year 2005) and the worth of the business has reached an ensure standard frameworks and procedures that are guiding
average of US$45 million per annum (New Zealand Dairy but also encouraging creativity of employees (Koufteros,
Products Bangladesh Ltd, 2010–2011). Nahm, Edwin Cheng & Lai, 2007). In the case of NZDPBL,
a clear customer focus is noticed in Mr M*’s vision of pro-
moting quality products in Bangladesh market. Interventions,
Discussion: Learning from
such as achievement of ISO certification, delegation of
NZDBPL’s Change Management
authority to sales team for better relationship with distribu-
Reflecting on the evidence placed in the above section, it tors and perusing the court cases for transparent relationship
can be said that NZDPBL has changed for better between with consumers, indicate customer orientation throughout

Figure 1. The Determinants of Successful Change in the Context of NZDPBL

Source: Adapted from Burnes (2009, p. 376).

92 Asia-Pacific Journal of Management Research and Innovation 12(1)

the formal and informal hierarchies at NZDPBL and more- (Argote & Miron-Spektor, 2011), which should take time
over such orientation has facilitated momentum for change to achieve. The other issue to note is that NZDPBL’s staffs
in the organisation. However, a crucial learning is that such were not exposed to extensive training and developments,
customer orientation could materialise due to the new formal which may be justified due to initial profitability crisis at
organisational structure at NZDPBL, that is, flatter and cost- the organisation (Burnes, 2003), but could still be the cause
effective organogram that NZDPBL attained with retrench- for limited uptake of organisational learning.
ment of people who were too rigid to the new ways of doing The feature of managerial behaviour, that is, leaders
things. This structural shift ensured that existing people’s generating motivation for change through vision and open
scope of work remains sustainable as well as constructive communication (Burnes 2009; Hayes, 2002), resonates
for consumers (Galbraith, 2000). well with the leadership that Mr M* exhibited at NZDPBL.
The feature of ‘organisational culture’ proposes changes He motivated people for change through his vision for
aligned to the values of the people in the organisation, are NZDPBL becoming a proud marketer of quality brands.
usually well accepted and successfully implemented Throughout the process of change management at NZDPBL,
(Burnes, 2009; Burnes & Jackson, 2011; Dawson, 2003; from change of ownership to business expansion, he has
Lamm, Gordon & Purser, 2010). At NZDPBL, such align- worked with people side by side. His initiatives such as
ment is observed as employees’ morale enhanced with negotiating separation packages for retrenched people,
changes made in the organisation. The young business communicating openly about the court cases, partici-
graduates, who are now working at strategic level at pating at personal level in marketing campaigns and
NZDPBL, could relate to the value of promoting quality encouraging staffs’ involvement in business expansion
products in Bangladesh market. Authors further felt that plans are just few examples in this regard. The positive
employees, who witnessed retrenchment of people known energy that authors found in the brand manager and few
to be rigid, were appreciative of the new norm of commit- others during the interviews endorses how ‘managerial
ment and pro-activeness. Interestingly, part of the positive behaviour’ induces the right employee attitude and main-
boost to the organisational culture stemmed from the tains the momentum of change.
respect that the changed NZDPBL earned from stake- The last feature in the list is power and politics, which
holders (e.g., suppliers, distributors, banks and government proposes that changes become effective when they are
regulatory authorities) through strategic and transparent supported by important internal and external sources of
ways of business. Hence, NZDPBL’s story provides a good power in the organisation (Burnes, 2009; Soulsby & Clarke,
example of how organisational culture and change initia- 2013). The initial play of power and politics at NZDPBL
tives can move hand in hand for effective transformation was seen with the big step of Fonterra’s transfer of owner-
of the organisation. ship to Mr M*. Fonterra was convinced to close the deal
Organisational learning, the open management style for with Mr M*, partly for his power to bring in other inves-
staff’s collective learning towards better organisational tors. Further politics to convince external source of power
outcomes, is the third one in the five features for successful is noticed in NZDPBL’s actions such as arranging endorse-
change management (Burnes, 2009). Organisational learn- ment from foreign high commissions in tax reduction cam-
ing facilitates change by making staff learning new way paigns. Similarly, NZDPBL acted on internal source of
and even questioning the status quos (Burnes, 2009). New power and resolved opposing conflicts with measures such
Zealand Dairy Products Bangladesh Ltd’s initiatives of as retrenching people known to be rigid and negotiating
lesser expensive but effective media campaigns and launch multi-supplier arrangement with Fonterra. Therefore, the
of value-added brands indicate that staffs were effectively story of NZDPBL advocates power and politics to be
collaborating for new ways of doing things. The fact that important manoeuvrer in change management.
young business graduates are working in collaboration Reflecting on the above information, the other point to
with Mr M*, an experienced manager, in business expan- recognise is that the influence of the five organisational
sion plans shows elements of knowledge creation as well. features (as shown in Figure 1) on organisational change
However, authors perceive that NZDPBL adhered to can overlap. For example, the leadership component of the
organisational learning to a limited extent. Organisational feature of ‘managerial behaviour’ can be linked with that
learning at NZDPBL seems more in the hands of Mr M* of ‘organisational culture’, since leaders have influence on
than the staff. For instance, till now, the challenges to aligning organisational value to that of the people in the
status quos, for example, breaking away from sole-supplier organisation. Such overlap is noticed as Mr M*’s vision of
arrangement with Fonterra were initiated by Mr M* rather promoting quality products in Bangladesh, manoeuvred
than the staffs. A probable rationale for such lacking is the ‘managerial behaviour’ as well as impacted the value
that staffs need more time and exposure to function congruence of ‘organisational culture’ at NZDPBL. Current
at the desired level of organisational learning. A look at the literature (Parry, Kirsch, Carey & Shaw, 2014) supports
literature indicates that organisational learning involves this notion of interrelatedness between the factors impact-
processes such as knowledge retention and transfers ing change. Therefore, another insight for the readers is
Siddiqui and Ahmed 93

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