Buisness Review

Business Review Articles

Executive Summary

University of Northwestern

Susan Zupon

BUA5010 Managerial Leadership

Professor Dale Hutchcraft

October 10, 2015

Business Review Articles

Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail

John P. Kotter is known for his work on leading organizational change. In 1995, when this article was first published, he had just completed a 10-year study of more than 100 companies that attempted such a transformation. Here he shares the results of his observations, outlining the eight largest errors that can trouble these efforts and explaining the general lessons that encourage. Kotter also presents eight critical steps to implementing successful change in an organization.

Unsuccessful Transitions

1. Generating a sense of urgency

2. Establishing a powerful guiding coalition

3. Developing a vision

4. Communicating the vision clearly and often

5. Removing obstacles

6. Planning for and creating short-term wins

7. Avoiding premature declarations of victory

8. Embedding changes in the corporate culture.

Eight Critical Steps

1. Establishing a sense of urgency

2. Forming a powerful guiding coalition

3. Creating a vision

4. Communication the vision

5. Empowering others to act on the vision

6. Planning for and creating short term wins

7. Consolidating Improvements

8. Institutionalizing new approaches and producing still more change

Decoding Resistance to Change

Jeffrey Ford, of the Ohio State University, and Laurie Ford, of Critical Path Consultants, explain the importance of seeing resistance as feedback. They further go on to explain five ways for leaders to implement feedback to produce positive change.

1. Boost awareness. In the early stages, if the only way to keep the conversation about change alive is to entertain highly charged discussions, so be it. A complete lack of feedback can sound the death knell for...