Change is inevitable and bound to happen in all aspects of life including business. Although change is important in an organization, it can also be seen as a strength and weakness. Effective leadership is about mastering change. One must be willing to change in order to grow and be successful. This paper will compare and contrast Kotter and Kurt Lewin step in their change management models. Furthermore, it will elaborate on the concepts and explain whether these methods can be used at the same time. In addition, this paper will include a Christian worldview of the information discussed and how it relates to the change management models.
Kotter’s Management Model John Kotter studied success and change. During this process, he learned that change has to go through several phases. According to Clawson (2012) “Kotter’s research outlined eight reasons that corporate change fails and eight corresponding ways of managing them. Kotter’s counsel was that change leaders should (1) establish a sense of urgency, (2) create a guiding, powerful coalition, (3)
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Their change management models were easy and in step by step form. The models provided a clear understanding and guidance in the process. Lewin was more focused on data, goals, and plans, but Kotter was focused on the leader getting the employees to buy into change with a sense of urgency that would contribute to the success of the organization. The steps should be followed in both methods; however both methods should be used separately to eliminate confusion and understand the steps are different. Kotter’s method seems to be better because it is easier to follow. His methods don’t just focus on change, but it prepares people for the changes before they occur. Both methods can be useful depending on the leaders and the organization. Leaders have to do what’s best for the people overall and the next paragraph put emphases on how Christians view these
Leading Change was named the top management book of the year by Management General. There are three major sections in this book. The first section is ¡§the change of problem and its solution¡¨ ; which discusses why firms fail. The second one is ¡§the eight-stage process¡¨ that deals with methods of performing changes. Lastly, ¡§implications for the twenty-first century¡¨ is discussed as the conclusion. The eight stages of process are as followed: (1) Establishing a sense of urgency. (2) Creating the guiding coalition. (3) Developing a vision and a strategy. (4) Communicating the change of vision. (5) Empowering employees for broad-based action. (6) Generating short-term wins. (7) Consolidating gains and producing more changes. (8) Anchoring new approaches in the culture.
John Kotter, an expert on organizational change, conducted thirty years of research, coming to the conclusion that because companies do not completely investigate the whole picture when it comes to change, seventy percent of businesses crash by not finishing the change through to the end. For the reason that many businesses fail because of this reason, he created an eight-step process to help businesses succeed and move forward with their change (The 8 Step Process). This paper’s objective is to explain Kotter’s change process and link it to Target Canada’s decision to open in Canada, discussing what decisions fared well and the decisions that produced failure.
Change is a double-edged sword (Fullan, 2001). Change is a word that might inspire or put fear into people. Leadership is challenging when it comes to dealing with change and how individuals react within the organization to the change. Marzano, McNulty, and Waters (2005) discuss two orders of change in their book School Leadership that Works; first and second. Fullan (2001) also adds to the discussion in his book Leading in a Culture of Change, with regard to understanding change. In Change Leadership, Keagan and Wagner (2006) discuss many factors of change and the systematic approach to change. Change affects people in different ways. Leaders need to be able to respond to the individuals throughout the change process.
In his book, Leading Change, Dr. John P. Kotter communicates why organizations fail or succeed based on ten years of conducting research on more than 100 companies to see what contributed to their successful transformations and what hindered those transformations. “In October 2001 Business Week magazine reported a survey they conducted of 504 enterprises that rated Professor Kotter the number one “leading guru” in America.” The two significant aspects I took from this book were the reasons why change initiatives fail and an eight-stage process to lead the organization through a successful transformation.
Kotter, J. P., & Schlesinger, L. A. (2008). Choosing strategies for change. Harvard Business Review, 86(7/8), 130-139.
Change is an inevitable function of any organization and is something that employees and leaders alike are bound to face during their careers. According to Ivancevich et al (2011), how leaders are able to handle the task of change can determine the success or failure of an organization. As organizational leadership students, it is important for us to begin to develop and sharpen the necessary skills to innovate and adapt to change effectively. Leaders should be familiar with a variety of elements within the organization including an assessment of employee and leadership strengths, relationships, skill level and capability, level of support, and the types of resources readily available. Assessing these elements prior and during change, as well as evaluating the process after the fact, helps prepare organizations and leaders for future success. The Harvard School of Business’ interactive change management simulation, Change Management Simulation: Power and Influence V2 (2013), was a valuable assignment to help teach us about change from the standpoint of a mid-level management position at Spectrum, a sunglasses company, looking to adopt a new sustainability initiative.
Graetz, F., & Smith, A. C. T. (June 2010). Managing organizational change: A philosophies of change approach. Journal of Change Management 10(2), 135–154.
In today’s ever changing world people must adapt to change. If an organization wants to be successful or remain successful they must embrace change. This book helps us identify why people succeed and or fail at large scale change. A lot of companies have a problem with integrating change, The Heart of Change, outlines ways a company can integrate change. The text book Ivanceich’s Organizational Behavior and Kotter and Cohen’s The Heart of Change outlines how change can be a good thing within an organization. The Heart of Change introduces its readers to eight steps the authors feel are important in introducing a large scale organizational change. Today’s organizations have to deal with leadership change, change in the economy,
To make a change initiative organic, employees must be engaged within the process. The Kotter change model emphasizes the use of teambuilding, which is a key element in making change organic. Step one of establishing a sense of urgency requires leadership to engage the employees in a way that creates
Kotter, JP 1995, Leading change: why transformation efforts fail. In Harvard Business Review on Change, Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
One of the change models of Organizational Development was created by Kurt Lewin. It includes three phases: unfreeze, move or change, and refreeze (Lewin, 1951, 1958). Lewin’s model recognizes the impormance of changing the people in organization and the role of top management involvement to overcome the resistance of change.
Discussed earlier was the fact that there are factors in place that should have identified the need for change. This organization has a yearly health and wellness survey that is completed anonymously to gauge technical growth and morale. This survey has been flagged for four years in a row as being “red” which indicates that there is a leadership issue. The other factor is a program that logs the organizations ability to do their job which has also been flagged for five years. These flags should have initiated a “Tiger Team” who would have been tasked to analyze the problem and generate courses of action to resolve the issue. However, this did not occur and business continued as is until recently when several outside agency inquisitions
...ges with general statements that I recognize from my own experiences with leadership. It is very frustrating to be told about a new idea without any type of explanation for the change. I recognize that leading change is incredibly difficult and Kotter seems to understand the structure of organizational change. If leaders will follow his guidelines and recommendations for their organizations, they can improve business and become significantly better companies.
Kotter, J. P. (2007). ‘Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail’. Harvard Business Review, January: 96-103.
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