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Running head: LEADING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE WITH KOTTER’S EIGHT STEPS

LEADING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE WITH KOTTER’S EIGHT STEPS 7

Leading Organizational Change with Kotter’s Eight Steps

Nikeva Clark

HRM560 Assignment 2

Dr. Allen Beck

May 11, 2016

Organization change is quite a common phenomenon. It is something that is inevitable through the journey of organizations to success i.e. the achievement of objectives and goals. Organization change is basically a process whereby the management function together with the employees steer an organization by modifying its procedures, practices and systems. Organization change is necessary because sometimes certain ways and systems become obsolete and ineffective due to various reasons which may include a change in the environment of the organization with regards to competition and the market needs or even the structure and size of the organization (Kotter, 1996).

This discussion is a thorough analysis of Alliance Operators, a multinational company with operations and entities that operate globally. Despite the success of various organization change plans, there is still need for further change in this organization. This is because; most of the previous changes had only been aimed at improving the marketing strategy. In addition there are various aspects that also need thorough revamping. These include: operation policies with regards to human rights practice, the organization’s strategy, vision, and the value statements, which should be done with the participation of all the stake holders. These changes will be implemented through Kotter’s eight step process of leading organization change as follows:

Establishing a sense of urgency

This is the first step of mobilizing change in any kind of scenario. This is because for change to be successful it must be backed by a lot of support. Kotter suggests that any leader of change should create or gran an opportunity that would enhance the changes of people signing u and supporting the change. This is because at least seventy five percent of the organization’s management function should support these changes. Creating this sense of urgency in Alliance Operators will mostly entail serous dialogue among all stake holders in the organization with regards to the market environment and the competitors. It involves the conduction of a SWOT analysis so that the managers and the other stakeholders see the reason why the change is necessary or inevitable.

Creating coalition

This is the second phase of change management. This is basically harmonizing power i.ee the creation of a certain group of individuals with the means and resources to create the necessary energy for the changes. The responsibility of spearheading the change process is therefore manifested in this group of individuals.

The purpose of creating such coalitions is to establish the necessary momentum by garnering support from the crucial people in the organization. This coalition should have representation from all aspects of the organization i.e. the formal and the informal. All departments should be represented. The emotional dimension is very important in this step. There are certain people in the organization that the while fraternity looks up to. Therefore, at Alliance Operators, leaders from all the branches worldwide should be picked. These leaders should be diverse i.e. form the production department to the management functions.

Developing vision and strategy

Establishing a clear vison and strategy is also very crucial. These are the factors that will aid the task force or coalition that was created in the previous phase to steer the effort of change. The strategies aid in the achievement of the vision objectives and goals. A change driven without focus will always fizzle out. It is quite clear that Alliance Operators’ vision and value statements do not show the interest of every stake holder in the organization. This plan will implement change in the vision and value statements as follows:

The vision needs to be conveyed in a short expression or speech in which the heart of change is vested. All the members of the coalition also need to be conversant with this short expression of the vision. The coalition will then develop strategies that will aid in delivering the vision.

Communicating the vision

Communication is the pillar for management of change in any organization. Kotter suggests that a leader should employ every possible means to communicate the vision and strategies for the change to the organization’s fraternity. Communication however goes further than announcements in meetings. It involves personal and facial contact with people by the leader and the coalition members. Email is only appropriate as a follow up to face to face communication.

The communication theme to be applied in Alliance Operators is waling the talk. This will entail involving the employees in sports events and other team building events and competitions that will be geared towards mobilizing the change. The coalition will be every open to the emotional among other concerns that may be raised during the entire change process.

Empowering broad-based action

Empowering a broad base action will involve the collaboration of the employees. This will be realized by making the employees feel secures and see the benefits of embracing the imminent change. Security will entail mental security, physical security and job security. Physical security will be achieved by employing security personnel to man the equipment and the facilities. Job and mental security will entail the working conditions and formulation of job tenure contracts. After this, the coalition will mobilize the employees by training and informing them of the benefits that they will rip from the changes. This will be executed through dialogues, discussions and debates with and amongst the employees and the other stakeholders.

Generating short-term wins

Giving people a taste of what success will feel like is a very crucial approach to motivation. It is also a good ways to counter the critics who may be against the change process. Short term wins at Alliance Operators i.e. the achievement of short term milestones will be coupled by the recognition of the participants and rewarding them. The coalition and the change leader will be vested with the responsibility of looking for opportunities to create these short term wins.

Consolidating gains and producing more change

The Alliance Operators fraternity should understand that that a short-term win or victory is not enough. Early declaration of success in most change initiatives have resulted in failure. Therefore the change coalition will utilize these periods of short-term wins to increase the frequency of activities and change certain systems that would otherwise prove difficult to change. This is because it is the time when almost every individual in the organization sees the sense for change. Every success of failure should be improved and then built upon in order to create bigger wins.

Anchoring new approaches into the culture

Change is supposed to be sustainable. New systems should be engraved within the fabric of the organization’s culture. Changes need to be embedded in the practices and norms of the organization. The change leader and his coalition will have to discuss ways in which they will articulate the new behaviors into the success of the organization. This is meant to avoid failure at the last minute or flopping of the implemented changes. This phase is of equal importance as the other phases in the change process (Kotter, 1979).

References

Kotter, J., (1996). Leading Change. Harvard Business School Press. ISBN 9780875847474.

Kotter, P., (1979). Organization - Texts, Cases, and Readings on the Management of Organizational Design and Change. R. D. Irwin. ISBN 0256022267.

The 8 steps of John Kotter's change model. Strategies for Managing Change. Retrieved from, http://www.strategies-for-managing-change.com/john-kotter.html on 6th May 2016.

The 8-Step Process for Leading Change. Kotter International. Retrieved from, http://www.kotterinternational.com/the-8-step-process-for-leading-change/ on 6th May 2016.