Kotter's Change Model

8 Key excerpts on "Kotter's Change Model"

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  eBook - ePub

  The 8 Steps to Strategic Success

  Unleashing the Power of Engagement

  • Gerben van den Berg, Paul Pietersma(Authors)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Kogan Page

    (Publisher)

  In his books (1990, 1996, 2002), Kotter makes a clear distinction between management and leadership in change. To him, management is a set of activities that keeps a complex system of people and technology running smoothly. Leadership, on the other hand, is what defines the future (gives a vision) and gets people lined up for that vision and inspired to pursue it. The eight phases of change model provides a systematic instrument for taking leadership in change. It enables a company to instil lasting changes in the organization, avoid (possibly) fatal mistakes and get people inspired. Execution Kotter emphasizes the importance of not skipping any of the eight phases. For lasting change, an organization has to go through all eight. The phases are: Create a sense of urgency. To address complacency, it is important that false signs of security are removed. Management must ensure that people feel a sense of urgency because of an (impending) crisis and that they are convinced that continuing as usual is no longer acceptable. Appoint a change team. A strong coalition is needed to create change in an organization. The members of this group must appreciate the value of the proposed change and realize that they need to obtain trust and commitment from the people in the organization. Furthermore, they should be credible and have the skills, connections, reputation and formal authority to demonstrate leadership in change. Have a clear vision. Vision is a key element in successfully realizing change. Vision, according to Kotter, is the bridge between existing and future conditions. When implementing a new strategy, this vision should thus already be clear: it portrays the new strategy and why the organization wants to take on that strategic direction. A clear vision is then instrumental in giving a sense of direction for the desired change and in aligning activities

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  eBook - ePub

  Human Resource Management for Organisational Change

  Theoretical Formulations

  • Paritosh Mishra, Balvinder Shukla, R. Sujatha(Authors)
  • 2021(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  The reason for effectiveness in applicability of Lewin’s model is that, the model not only offers suggestions on how changes can be brought about, but also depicts how changes adopted can be maintained and continued to be pursued for further organisational development. Lewin’s was one of the first theories to recognize that change is a constant which is relational and happens through interaction. In today‘s world of uncertainty, Lewin’s theory provides a premise to perceive and cope with uncertainty as a source of change, which, at the crux of it, is what Lewin meant by the process of ‘unfreezing’ (Van Nistelrooij, 2018). John Kotter's Eight Step Model Over the past decades, companies have been trying to build their organisations by reinventing organisational structures. The underlying fundamental facet of this reinvention is to change the way business is conducted. One of the most popular models for planning, implementing, and sustaining this change is the ‘Eight-Step Change Model’ introduced by John Kotter (Kotter, 1995). The model investigates the change in organisations in eight steps. ‘ Establishing a sense of urgency’ refers to the need to examine market and competitive realities (Kotter, 1995) on an emergent basis. This helps in identifying and discussing crises and solving them to create greater opportunities. Bold actions, characteristic to a strong leadership, are normally vital for creating a strong sense of urgency (p. 43). Kotter (1995) further espouses that leaders must communicate this information “broadly and dramatically”. Kotter (1996, p. 44) recommends the use of consultants as a tactic for crafting a sense of urgency and challenge the status quo. Armenakis, Harris, and Mossholder (1993) strengthen Kotter’s statement by suggesting the recruitment of sources outside the organisation. An analytical report compiled by a consulting agency can be used as an instrument to add believability to the need for change

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  eBook - ePub

  Handbook for Strategic HR - Section 6

  Change Management

  • OD Network, John Vogelsang PhD, Maya Townsend, Matt Minahan, David Jamieson, Judy Vogel, Annie Viets, Cathy Royal, Lynne Valek(Authors)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • AMACOM

    (Publisher)

  Table 53.2 ), it can be difficult to gain perspective on over-arching themes represented in the literature. In relation to the organizational development professional’s role, while the change process may move through progressive stages, the actual action steps must be managed in groups, with subprocesses addressed simultaneously. For example, leadership skills, behaviors, and actions are important in stage 1, but equally significant in the other seven stages. An organizational development professional would recommend projects that address leadership characteristics across all stages, developing training or coaching interventions that (a) improve language choice (Brower, 2007), (b) bring awareness to employee antecedents impacting receptiveness to change (Van Dam et al., 2008), and (c) provide practical action steps for communicating expected change results and measurements from the beginning (Cowley, 2007). Essential enhancements to the Kotter framework, as drawn from the research review, will thus be discussed through the lens of stakeholder groups. The three identified stakeholders are leadership (senior, middle, and front-line managers); employees (followers); and the organization (system).

  Enhanced Action Steps: Leadership

  An important insight for leadership (see Figure 53.1 for summary) is the acknowledgment managers have the most impact in generating change management success. From communicating the vision, modeling new behaviors, and signaling support for change, to rewarding employees for innovation and improvisation, to building employee engagement—managers carry the keys to unlock the benefits of transformational change. Organizational development professionals should devote considerable energy to the design of corporatewide development tools and measures that proactively develop core change management competencies.

  These skill sets and behaviors include:

  1. Communicating specifics regarding expected change process results, including how performance will be measured, what resources will be committed, and projected employee changes (Cowley, 2007).

  2. Using “building up” and “breaking down” language (Brower et al., 2007, p. 69) to generate understanding and commitment, where establishing understanding is the first priority. Breaking down language means negating information no longer relevant or functional, then promoting disengagement from outdated commitments (Brower et al.). Building up language includes emphasizing information directly relevant to the new vision, then “affirm[ing] the [company’s] mission and inspir[ing] commitment to it” (2007, p. 69).

  FIGURE 53.1   Recommended Enhanced Action Steps to Kotter Model, Grouped by Stakeholder

  3.

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  Business Psychology and Organizational Behaviour

  • Eugene McKenna(Author)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Produce visible signs of progress in the form of short-term victories. It is recognized that achieving major change can take time. Given this reality, there is a danger that the effort put into bringing about change may subside or slow down as people lose the initial sense of urgency and their attention moves elsewhere, particularly to important operational issues. One way to guard against this is to seek short-term or early wins (where progress is visible). This is of value because people involved in making things happen receive recognition for their good work.
• (7) Stick to the change process and refuse to give up when conditions get tough, and don’t declare victories or achievements too soon. Although early wins are advocated to maintain the motivational impetus and to promote continued effort directed at implementing change, we are cautioned against declaring victories or wins too soon as this could damage the momentum.
• (8) Nurture and shape a new culture to support the improvements and innovations that are taking root. Those instituting the change are keen to ensure that changes are consolidated. This will be made easy if they are able to show that the change has brought about beneficial alterations or modifications to attitudes, behaviour, and organizational processes, which in turn have resulted in improved performance. There should be constant reminders of the benefits of the changes introduced until they form part of the accepted culture of the organization.
The first four steps in Kotter’s model above could be viewed as a preoccupation with the unfreezing stage, the fifth and seventh stages represent a movement from the old to the new, and the final stage concentrates on refreezing.
Kotter’s contribution has value in providing a guide to managers and change agents to assist with the successful implementation of change. Bolman and Deal (2017) have taken Kotter’s model and combined it with four ways in which they view organizations – structure, symbolic (culture), human resource, and political frames – and claim this approach provides a powerful vehicle for successfully managing change.