The first 90 days are critical for a new chief executive. He or she has to quickly get to grips with the business, identify a plan to move it forward and realign its culture with its revised objectives.

Changing the culture of a company requires buy-in from the key stakeholders: executives, staff, shareholders, customers and suppliers.

Any chief executive who is not able to gain the confidence of key stakeholders early on is likely to encounter problems.

Organisational psychology consultant Rowan Bradford of Kaisen Consulting says that Marc Bolland's immediate priorities will be to identify and assess:

Customer drivers and competitors' capabilities

Desired competitive position

Morrisons' current culture and operations

Operational strategic and cultural changes needed

Key stakeholders and get them to buy into initial elements of the change agenda

Key stakeholders who resist engaging and either move them or eliminate them from positions