Applying the Kotter Eight Step Change Model to New England Wire and Cable

1921 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The impact of change in organizations

Companies are not unlike species, they must both change with the current environment or risk becoming extinct. Charles Darwin succinctly states this idea, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent but the one most responsive to change.”1 In the case study, “Other People’s Money,” in the scene presented there is a proxy vote going to take place by the shareholders of the New England Wire and Cable (NWC) Company. But, before the votes are casted both the Chairman of the Board and patriarch Andrew "Jorgy" Jorgenson and the potential majority shareholder Lawrence "Larry the Liquidator" Garfield are afforded the opportunity to deliver speeches to the body of the shareholders. While Jorgenson’s speech is nothing more than as Garfield puts it a prayer that appeals to nothing more than the emotions of the shareholders, more focused on blaming the environmental factors that the company’s leadership was unable to navigate than laying out a plan for the future. Garfield is quick to counter Jorgenson’s speech appealing to the logic of the shareholders. According to Garfield the company is dead because it failed to adapt and technology changed making wire obsolete. He tells them that they need to have the decency to sign the “death certificate” for the company and get out while there is something in the company that is worth something. The scene ends as the proxy vote is about to take place. Jorgenson being the Chairman of the Board must be the leader of change in this organization prior to the proxy vote taking place. He then will be able to talk about the progress they have made and the way ahead for the future of the company. One of the most important changes that Jorgenson must make is mov... ... middle of paper ... ...e way we do things around here,” …seep[ing] into the very bloodstream of the [organization].”7 Meaning that the change vision that Jorgenson and his team worked so diligently to in place at NWC has begun to become normalized within the culture and there is a sense of shared values throughout the organization. This step is designed to provide the leadership the ability to further solidify the change vision into the organizations fabric. The leadership of NWC must make the connections for the organization on how specific attitudes and behaviors have affected positive change in the organization and how those changes fit into the overall vision for change. Works Cited _______________________________ End Notes: 1Class Notes, 2Ibid, 3Ibid, 4Ibid, . 5John P. Kotter, Leading Change. (Harvard Business Review Press. 2012), 6Ibid, . 7Ibid, . 8Ibid, 47. 9Ibid, 55.

Show More
Related

  • Research Paper On Ida Tarbell The Muckraker

    1872 Words  | 4 Pages

    During the late 1800's and early 1900's, change in American society was very evident in the economy. An extraordinary expansion of the industrial economy was taking place, presenting new forms of business organization and bringing trusts and holding companies into the national picture. The turn of the century is known as the "Great Merger Movement:" over two thousand corporations were "swallowed up" by one hundred and fifty giant holding companies.1 This powerful change in industry brought about controversy and was a source of social anxiety. How were people to deal with this great movement and understand the reasons behind the new advancements? Through the use of propaganda, the public was enlightened and the trusts were attacked. Muckraking, a term categorizing this type of journalism, began in 1903 and lasted until 1912. It uncovered the dirt of trusts and accurately voiced the public's alarm of this new form of industrial control. Ida Tarbell, a known muckraker, spearheaded this popular investigative movement.2 As a journalist, she produced one of the most detailed examinations of a monopolistic trust, The Standard Oil Company.3 Taking on a difficult responsibility and using her unique journalistic skills, Ida Tarbell was able to get to the bottom of a scheme that allowed the oil industry to be manipulated by a single man, John D. Rockefeller.

    Read More

  • The Battle of Fox Hill and Toktong Pass

    873 Words  | 2 Pages

    Drury, Bob and Calvin, Tom. The Last Stand of Fox Company. 1st ed. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2009.

    Read More

  • Gilded Age: Captains Of Industry

    1281 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rockefeller was the founder of the Standard Oil Company who utilized horizontal integration to dominate the oil industry; Rockefeller was another capitalist considered to be a “robber baron” of industrial America between the time period of 1865 and 1909 who acquired a great amount of wealth. This money was acquired with the usage of cutthroat tactics that disadvantaged his competitors immensely; Rockefeller did anything to increase his own wealth. He ran competitors out of business, lowered his prices drastically in places where competition was rough, and even threatened companies into bankruptcy, such as Ida Tarbell’s father’s business. Rockefeller believed that industrial combinations were a necessity and firmly believed in them being of benefit to the public (Doc. 6). James B. Weaver, a Populist presidential candidate, however, {disproves} this alleged belief that trusts were for the benefit of the public {theory} in his book A Call to Action by stating that trusts are the product of “threats, intimidation, bribery, fraud, wreck, and pillage” (Doc. 3). He further discredits trusts by providing an example of how the Oat Meal Trust in 1887 proved to be extremely unfortunate for and to the disadvantage of the laborers at the mills who lost their jobs (Doc. 3). This shows that the trusts that Rockefeller thrived on and made Rockefeller wealthier, though advantageous for consumers and Rockefeller himself, could often be to the disadvantage of the laborers. Rockefeller

    Read More

  • 1

    677 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ralph Nader, Mark Green and Joel Seligman, in an excerpt from Taming the Giant Corporation (1976, found in Honest Work by Ciulla, Martin and Solomon), take the current role of the company board of directors and suggest changes that should be made to make the board to be efficient. They claim the current makeup of the board does not necessarily do justice to the company because “in nearly every large American business…there exists a management autocracy” (Nader, Green and Seligman, 1976, p.570). The main resolution they present is to make the board more democratic with the betterment of the company as its first priority. Currently the board no longer oversees operations, or elects top company executives and they are no longer involved in the business operations to the extent they should be. Nadar, Green and Seligman argue that that all of these things need to be changed. For a corporation so large to be successful there must be separation of powers just as there is in any current government system ( p.571). They claim this is the only and best way to success (Nader, Green and Seligman, 1976, p.570-571).

    Read More

  • Memo to Martha Stewart, CEO of Martha Stewart Omnimedia

    1577 Words  | 4 Pages

    Evan, William M. and Edward R. Freeman. “A Stakeholder Theory of The Modern Corporation: Kantian Capitalism.” Advanced College Essay: Business and Its Publics. Ed. Pat C. Hoy II and Denice Martone. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002. 329-38.

    Read More

  • Enron Leadership Dilemma Analysis

    790 Words  | 2 Pages

    The general public in today’s society only see’s the outside appearance of the world’s big companies instead of looking at the inner exterior of all corporations. For example Enron a United States exchange Corporation collapses in 2001. The energy exchange company went into bankruptcy after being established since 1999, the company’s executive selected an accountant that in the end dishonestly inflated Enron’s profits. Many leaders inside on Enron’s corporation were stealing large amounts of money over a period of time. This dilemma was seen as a bad performance of an unstable business corporation.

    Read More

  • The 7 Levels Of Change

    1082 Words  | 3 Pages

    The 7 Levels of Change provides a different way of thinking to enhance behaviors and processes. The author demonstrates throughout the book a seven process of change that builds upon the next. He believes that by thinking differently, being creative and stepping out of the norm is the catalyst to solutions and results beyond one’s expectations. Although the author uses the analogy of a new work environment to expound on the level of changes, the fundamentals can be used in both your personal and professional life.

    Read More

  • Milton Friedman's Essay Analysis of The Social Responsibility to Increase Profit

    720 Words  | 2 Pages

    Is The Tyranny Of Shareholder Value Finally Ending? N.p., n.d. Web. The Web.

    Read More

  • Gender Discrimination

    823 Words  | 2 Pages

    The good old boys of Wall Street surely epitomize a prime example of an Ethic of Care gone wrong. The message the industry seems to want to get across, especially to...

    Read More

  • Leveraged Buyout Essay

    1754 Words  | 4 Pages

    The economy is always changing, and new ideas continue to be created, tested, and integrated into the financial world. Before World War II, wealthy families owned most companies and businesses. The families, or select wealthy individuals, dominated the economy and the rest of the population had little to no involvement in it. Takeovers, or buyouts of other companies were done in small scales, because the families lacked the funding to takeover larger companies. However, after the War the opportunities to participate in the economy slowly expanded. As the American communities began to recover, the economy slowly began to prosper once again. People began to invest more in companies, and buy shares in larger corporations, which allowed them to have some control over the management’s decisions. The old notion that companies were mostly family owned began to fade out; the owners were growing old and wanted to “avoid estate taxes and retain family control”. This left two options for them: either to make their family corporation in an initial public offering (IPO), or to have a larger company takeover. Neither of these options allowed the family to maintain complete control over their business. When Henry Kravis, Jerome Kohlberg, and George Roberts, began their careers in economics, they slowly began to utilize their own ideas and strategies, and eventually formed their own company. They reintroduced something called the leveraged buyout (LBO), a practice sparsely utilized by investors in the 1950’s, which later became the most popular form of takeover during the time. This buyout became the “third option” for the previously family owned companies to continue owning the business, but there were many other aspects included. These three...

    Read More

  • “Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail”

    860 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail” is an article written by John P. Kotter in the Harvard Business Review, which outlines eight critical factors to help leaders successfully transform a business. Since leading requires the ability to influence other people to reach a goal, the leadership needs to take steps to cope with a new, more challenging global market environment. Kotter emphasizes the mistakes corporations make when implementing change and why those efforts create failure; therefore, it is essential that leaders learn to apply change effectively in order for it to be beneficial in the long-term (Kotter).

    Read More

  • Stakeholders in Airport Decision Making

    1401 Words  | 3 Pages

    Stakeholders are those groups or individual in society that have a direct interest in the performance and activities of business. The main stakeholders are employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers, financiers and the local community. Stakeholders may not hold any formal authority over the organization, but theorists such as Professor Charles Handy believe that a firm’s best long-term interests are served by paying close attention to the needs of each of these stakeholders. The modern view is that a firm has responsibilities to all its stakeholders i.e. everyone with a legitimate interest in the company. These include shareholders, competitors, government, employees, directors, distributors, customers, sub-contractors, pressure groups and local community. Although a company’s directors owes a legal duty to the shareholders, they also have moral responsibilities to other stakeholder group’s objectives in their entirely. As a firm can’t meet all stakeholders’ objectives in their entirety, they have to compromise. A company should try to serve the needs of these groups or individuals, but whilst some needs are common, other needs conflict. By the development of this second runway, the public and stakeholders are affected in one or other way and it can be positive and negative.

    Read More

  • Change Management Case Study

    1745 Words  | 4 Pages

    The change process within any organization can prove to be difficult and very stressful, not only for the employees but also for the management team. Hayes (2014), highlights seven core activities that must take place in order for change to be effective: recognizing the need for change, diagnosing the change and formulating a future state, planning the desired change, implementing the strategies, sustaining the implemented change, managing all those involved and learning from the change. Individually, these steps are comprised of key actions and decisions that must be properly addressed in order to move on to the next step. This paper is going to examine how change managers manage the implementation of change and strategies used

    Read More

  • Business and Social Responsibility

    1512 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...the agents to be the gatekeepers for keeping the corporation alive. While some of Dr. Friedman’s opinions came across bold and harsh, ultimately I feel that he presents a strong case for developing a profit-motivated company that does not treat its stockholders inappropriately.

    Read More

  • Enron Movie Summary

    786 Words  | 2 Pages

    Louis Borget, the president of Enron, stole $3M from the company and transferred into his personal offshore account. The men of this company never considered the consequences their actions would have on stakeholders, such as the employees. Step #3 tells us to consider all stakeholders involved in a decision, but we saw that Enron was clearly blinded ethics. The company encouraged all employees to put all of their money into stocks, even though they knew the company was collapsing. 4. List the points of the movie you agreed with and state why. a. Rappaport said, “ Ultimately, the fatal flaw with Enron was a sense that brains and wiliness could out think the way that system will eventually work.” I agreed with this assumption because throughout the movie this was a common theme. For example, Enron made a deal with Blockbuster to try and sell movies online. When a Canadian bank heard about this they gave Enron a loan of 115 million dollars, in exchange for the profits. When the plan tanked, they counted the loan as a profit from the venture. 5. List the points you disagreed with or found unhelpful. a. The whole was able to give me a general understanding of what happened to

    Read More

More about Applying the Kotter Eight Step Change Model to New England Wire and Cable

Open Document