Change challenges of brexit to the uk government
Instructions:
The sub-components are:
What are the main change challenges?
What needs to be addressed (analysis and classification)? How well have they been addressed so far (evaluation)?
You also need to address the assessment criteria in answering the question.
Assessment criterion 1: Application of a range of change management theories, models and frameworks to analyse how the government and/or key players have been leading and managing Brexit [30%]
We recommend that you answer this in terms of change as an on-going process, so in this way, you will be able to identify the major challenges ahead and at the same time reflect on how well these challenges have been addressed so far. Note that Brexit hasn’t happened yet but the challenges in relation to preparing the foundations for Brexit have been happening. Here you can also provide diagrams and tables (excluded from the word count) to illustrate the challenges.
You are asked to relate your answer to “the UK government”. You need to think what this might mean; for example, Theresa May as Prime Minister (equivalent to a chief executive in business), her cabinet (equivalent to the board) and the “Ministries” they lead (equivalent to business departments). “Key players” may refer to anyone acting in the Cabinet including the Prime Minister or senior hierarchy of the Civil Service (who act on behalf and are accountable to government). Note that you are expected to go beyond and write a report on “the government” not just Theresa May for example.
Examples of challenges:
This is where you need to do some thinking. Take a step back from all the detail. What do you think the main challenges are? How many are there? How might these challenges be classified? This requires a judgment on your side. [To help you here, let’s say you are trying to convince someone to do something. Do you present 3 arguments or 6? Do you present 10? What is the most convincing? Are there a small number of key arguments which relate to other sub-arguments? How do you justify the number of arguments you select?]
Try to contextualise the challenges you identify in relation to the change and change-related literature (e.g., as covered in the module – all the material covered in the lectures and seminars is relevant; sometimes, the literature may not be about “change management” as a process but is relevant for understanding and implementing change projects; show understanding, perhaps).
So, a weak argument might be “X is an important challenge”. A stronger argument would be “X is an important challenge because…” and a stronger argument again will be “X is a key challenge and can be understood in terms of… (see diagram)” or “This challenge relates to theory Y which suggests that…”
You need to address criterion 2: An evaluation of what Brexit can teach us about the process of leading and managing change, leading to a set of recommendations about what the UK Govt might do between now and the UK, exiting of the EU [25%]
In addressing this you need to think about the similarities between leading Brexit and leading change generally. Change can be led in lots of different contexts including conventional businesses. Try to show some understanding of these contexts – again, some thinking on your side is required here.
Try to identify what key general principles might be learned and which apply in other contexts.
In putting forward recommendations, a weak recommendation will be: “The UK Govt should do, x, y and z.” A stronger recommendation would be, “The UK Govt should do x, y and z because…” A stronger recommendation again would be: “The change literature (being specific of a framework for example) should do x, y and z because…” or “The priorities of leading Brexit are x, y and z. From a change leadership perspective, x, y and z are important because…”
Logically, the key principles you identify should be drawn upon to support your recommendations
You also need to address criterion 3: A high standard of academic writing (e.g., logically structured including well considered introduction and conclusion, evidence of analysis, synthesis and evaluation; accurate Harvard Referencing and following a report format; effective use of tables and diagrams [25%]
This is about making sure you have addressed the question and assessment criteria and in an academic manner. You will show evidence of getting to grips with the material, drawing on the recommended academic reading and beyond. Be evaluative – how big are the challenges, what might be less of an issue than is currently perceived (or more of an issue). What has been done well and less well? Where will the big battles be fought framed within the context of theories of leading and managing change?
Strong reports will include detailed diagrams and tables. You won’t draw on everything in these diagrams and tables but will highlight what is important in them or will pick out examples from data in these diagrams and tables to illustrate principles. The diagrams and tables won’t, in themselves, act as a substitute for good analysis. You decide how many tables and diagrams to include. Again, what counts in constructing an argument? Do you cover everything or are you trying to present what is important? You need to be selective and analytical.
Remember also that you are presenting a report so include a cover page and a style of writing which is convincing (but not journalistic). The tone should be authoritative and concise while framing arguments within the literature and “realities” of Brexit. Remember also that you are writing a report on leading and managing change, not a politics essay. For this reason, change management literature is important in addressing this assignment.
Solution
Change challenges of brexit to the uk government
Introduction
As a result of the referendum that held in 23rd June 2016, the citizens of Britain voted to exit the European Union (EU), a term abbreviated as Brexit; British exit (Dallago, 2016). The referendum affected the entire markets in the world including the fall of the British pound to a very low level over years. The idea to leave maybe because of political, cultural and social decision; however, the decision also comes with a number of change challenges to the United Kingdom (UK) government (Das, 2016). Such challenges include the disruption of labour markets, deciding on the transition in the immigration regime, changes in economic development, and the limited amount of time left before formal exit in the year 2019.
Discussion
It could take time for the UK government to fully realize or understand the implications of Brexit. The government considers the development of effective strategies that aid in the management of Brexit. In the first place, the UK government faces a challenge in the issue of immigrants that are recently working and living in the country (Dallago, 2016). As a result of the exit of Britain, the immigrants may be negatively influenced in terms of their current and future stay in in the UK. The condition of the immigrants may concern their income, legal status, as well as their probable return to their home countries (Gumbrell-McCormick, and Hyman, 2017). Through the Lewin’s Change model, UK needs to undertake measures that could curb the factors that lead to the resistance of the change from the immigrants (Blaber, 2004). In addition, it needs to educate the citizens on the need for Brexit and make them adapt to the possible effects of evicting the immigrants that have not qualified to be residents of the country. The UK needs to consider the rights and status of the EU nationals that have lived in the country for more than five years and are eligible to permanent residence (Wood & Budhwar, 2016). This follows the provision of the legal documents as prove of the immigrant’s legal status as citizens of the UK. The government of UK has so far handled the issue of immigrants through undertaking certain policy decisions (Kostadinova, 2017). It is undertaking negotiations with the European Commission regarding the immigrants, which would help in making a decision on the fate of the immigrants that work and live in the UK. Moreover, the talks consider whether there is need to freeze the documents that give residence rights for individuals that have lived for more than five years in the EU.
The figure below shows the net migration to the UK (The economic impact of ‘Brexit,’ 2017)
In addition, Brexit had a great impact on the global economic front. Initially, Britain had made a decision to be out of the monetary union with the European Union, thus Britain uses the pound rather than the euro including area of Schengen showing that no open borders are shared between Europe and other nations in Europe (Dennis, 2016). Accomplishing a number of predictions that were negative, the vote for exit severely affected global markets. The Pound in Britain underwent a crash by over 10% in comparison with the dollar, which affected most businesses, including the banking sector (Fugazzi, 2015). For instance, Lloyds and Barclays Banks underwent a drop in shares by over 30% before somewhat recovering (Dennis, 2016). The Deutsche Bank in Germany also went down by approximately 14% including other major banks in the countries within the European Union. In the United States, across the board saw the drop in the stock market by about 3% that saw many investors securing their bonds, Japanese yen, and gold among other assets (Dennis, 2016).
As a result, the UK government faces a challenge in regards to the changes taking place in economic development. The matter concerns the funds in the EU and what should be done after Brexit is accomplished. The contribution of the UK to the EU is about 15% of the entire budget (Ellison, 2016). After the exit, the amount could significantly reduce. As a result, the amount of funding that EU gives to other nations may reduce significantly (Dallago, 2016). The decrease in the total amount funds contributed by UK in the EU institutes a big challenge in that it could contribute to the probable impact on the developments within the domestic politics in relation to the rise of the forces from the extremists and populists. This could lead to the manipulation of sentiments against Europe through such forces that could weaken the strengths of UK’s influence in the region. The exit of Britain denotes that there is great uncertainty concerning the changes in trade agreement between the EU and the UK. Due to the exit, new rules could be required to replace the single market setting for the EU (Geoghegan, 2017). The changes could greatly affect the EU members as well as the rest of the world. Economic analysts have indicated that uncertainties in economic conditions pose a major risk in the exit of Britain from the European Union. According to the view of many economists, Brexit could have an effect on business partners of UK such as Germany; as a result, the economy of UK could slowdown subsequently due to the reasons that many nations may not invest in the country.
In terms of the economic changes, the UK needs to establish a vision and strategy, as one of the steps suggested by John Kotter that is an expert in organizational leadership and change management (Blaber, 2004). The UK needs to understand that most of its exports are channelled to the EU. This means that the UK depends more on the EU for its economic development. Since UK earns most of its Gross Domestic Product from the service industry, it needs to negotiate with the EU, in order to come up with a liberal agreement that favours the industry (Gietel-Basten, 2016). Furthermore, the government needs to open up more of its exports to the Asian countries and the United States of America (USA) (Dallago, 2016). Therefore, in managing the changes, the UK needs to have negotiations that involve post-exit arrangements that involve settling for certain Preferential Trade Agreements.
Moreover, UK faces a challenge in the transition through the disruption of the labour markets. It is not possible for the UK government to accurately predict the consequences of the outcome of Brexit (Ainsworth, 2016). The UK needs to focus more on training and development of its native dwellers, in order to take up the place of the immigrants that may not get a chance to become citizens, but possess certain technical skills (Das, 2016). The government as a key player has to undertake such measures as encouraging organizations to plan for the future, in terms of training their employees to match the required skills and abilities. The government through its public servants has commenced on such training, as tool for strategic workforce planning. This considers the resource strategy reviews that seek to incorporate such training to schools and colleges, in order to reduce the costs of hiring expatriate to run the business of the government and other local organizations (Dallago, 2016). However, the government could actually face a challenge in hiring the national of the UK, as they are not ready to undertake the jobs that were done by the migrants with the amount of remuneration that the government and other organizations currently offer (Hoffmann & Wanègue, 2014). Therefore, the government needs to undertake measures that ensure that has the ability, together with other organizations, to provide the best working conditions and remuneration packages for its nationals.
Furthermore, UK faces a challenge of having its negotiations concluded before the March 2019 deadline. This means that is has time constraints as claimed by its Prime Minister, Theresa May. This means that the UK government could be in negotiations that involve labour and trade for more than two years, which could mean that it may not have a smooth transition in the actual exit. The UK government needs to find ways of concluding the negotiations before the elapse of time, in order to cut a good economic deal for itself in the region (Ainsworth, 2016). Thus far, the government gets different legal and political opinions that do not save the situation regarding the timeline for the negotiations, which leaves the UK with no option other than seek for an extension of time for the Brexit talks (Das, 2016). Although the British Prime Minister stand for the restriction of freedom of movement, it is critical to consider lifting the restrictions and allow freedom of movement integrated with access to the single market.
Recommendations
It is recommended that UK engage in negotiations that will seek to meet all its needs in all the sectors of the economy. Although this may prove to be a challenge, the UK needs to seek great links with its critical trading partners that impose no barriers during the course of its exit. Moreover, the UK government needs to have a clear plan regarding certain regulations and how they will be implemented both in the short and long term (Hardy & McCann, 2017). In addition, it needs to create a migration system that supports organizations and their need to recruit the immigrants due to the skills and labour efficiency traits that they possess. Furthermore, UK needs to undertake measures that could possibly renew its focus on the international economic relationships with other nations particularly those in the EU (Hendrickx, 2016). This could help ease the restrictions that have grown from the fact that the UK government stated that Brexit means Brexit that has ruined most of its trade relationships. Furthermore, the government of UK needs to consider the socio-economic implications of Brexit and ensure that it protects the interests of its nationals. It needs to consider it a smooth exit, in order to avoid disruptions and collusions with the interests of other nations. The Brexit concern teaches the need to implement change gradually whenever there is need to undertake a particular transition (Have, 2017). Moreover, it shows that it is important to consider all the stakeholders and their input in any change, in order to avoid resistance. Lastly, Brexit shows that it is critical to consider time factors whenever there is need to effect a given change. This helps in proper planning and meeting the intended need that the change was meant to effect.
Conclusion
The paper has considered the main challenges faced by the UK, in terms of Brexit. The challenges identified include the disruption of labour markets, changes in economic development, time limitations in terms of negotiations, and dealing with immigrants, especially the laws and policies that affect them. The UK government is gradually progressing with the Brexit plans and determined to mitigate all the risks that could come with the exit from the EU. However, the challenges prove to be critical and the government needs to undertake certain measures to endure that it smoothly exits from the EU without causing harm to itself, especially the nationals, and other countries.
References
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