LEADING CHANGE&

Evaluate weather or not the concepts in the book Leading Change by John Kotter are supported by scientific research

Evaluate weather or not the concepts in the book Leading Change by John Kotter are supported by scientific research

This paper analyses to evaluate weather or not the concepts in the book Leading Change written by John Kotter are supported by scientific research. For this purpose the furthermore the paper will focuses on how does this book compare to the research of the ideas in Organizational Behavior and Management 8th edition By John Ivancevich. Kotter breaks down the process of creating and leading change within an organization into an Eight-Stage process of leading change. In chapter 3 he explicates on the first stage: Establishing a Sense of Urgency. Completing this stage requires a great deal of cooperation, initiative, and a willingness to make sacrifices from many people. A high level of complacency and a low sense of urgency, Kotter asserts, constitute the two most significant impediments to change. In addressing complacency, he presents nine reasons organizations experience complacency. Before this, however, he explains that most companies face complacency despite the fact that they have highly intelligent and well-intentioned individuals.

First, companies often lack a visible crisis, and so employees fail to feel compelled to address problems within the company, though they do in fact exist. Second, companies tend to lull themselves into a false sense of security with the mere affluence of the corporate headquarters. This environment serves to instill a sense of success within employees. Third, managers will measure themselves and the performance of others against low and easily attainable standards. Furthermore, these standards actually deceive employees as to the success of their results by failing to compare their results with those of their competitors. Fourth, organization structure may cause employees to focus on narrow functional goals of the department they are involved in, rather than establishing a sense of contribution to the overall performance of the business. So, an employee may feel successful with their personal work and fail to realize that the performance of the company is declining. Sixth, internal performance feedback composes almost 100% of the feedback employees receive during their tenure. Without crucial external feedback from outside stakeholders, they will never realize the reality of their performance. Seventh, those employees who do seek feedback from outside stakeholders and initiate honest discussions regarding company performance are admonished for inappropriate behavior. Eighth, the human tendency to deny what we don't want leads to suppression of problems and avoidance of the work necessary to address them. Ninth, senior managers often cultivate a lethal sense of complacency within a company's employees through “happy talk”. This serves to downplay problems and embellish success, ultimately fostering a false sense of security. Kotter provides nine ways to overcome complacency, and he also asserts that a strong leader is required to facilitate these methods. A leader must establish a crisis to cause employees to realize internal problems; he must eliminate false signs of security; set ...