Kotter's change management framework and Jack Welch's leadership at General Electric

¶ … John P. Kotter

In his book, Heart of Change (2012), John P. Kotter describes the fundamental challenges that are involved whenever changes are introduced into organizational settings. Although every organization is unique, Kotter maintains that they all go through essentially the same stages whenever a change initiative is introduced. Based on the results of interviews with about 400 people drawn from 130 organizations, Kotter provides some valuable insights concerning the constraints and obstacles that are typically encountered and what steps are required to achieve positive outcomes. This paper provides a review of the first two steps proposed by Kotter to this end, followed by a discussion concerning the major issues that are involved in organizational change.

Step No.

In his introduction to Heart of Change, Kotter makes it clear that change is inevitable in any organizational setting, but poorly managed changes can wreak havoc with an organization's performance and productivity. In sum, the larger the organization, the more pronounced the challenges are when it comes to changes. For instance, Kotter emphasizes that, "This is especially so in large -scale organizational change, where you are dealing with new technologies, mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, new strategies, cultural transformation, globalization, and e-business" (p. 1). In this section, Kotter also makes the point that all organizational changes occur in eight discrete steps, with the first step requiring a change in organizational culture that embraces the need for change and creates a "sense of urgency" among the stakeholders. The second step of the change process is described below.

Step No. 2

The second step in the change process involves creating a "skunkworks" or guiding team comprised of change agents who possess the requisite skills, talents, credibility and organizational networks needed to facilitate the change initiative. This step is regarded as essential by Kotter because without it, dissension and fragmentation of effort can occur in ways that adversely affect meaningful progress in effecting the change.

Discussion concerning those ideas that really resonate

People hate changes in their day-to-day routines and will resist efforts to implement any change that does not improve their ability to earn a living and achieve organizational goals. In order to instill this sense of purpose, it is vitally important to clearly demonstrate the "what's-in-it-for-them" aspects of any change initiative.

Description of the most difficult aspect in the implementation of the Step

To his credit, Jack Welch possessed the "right stuff" to overcome the challenges facing General Electric in an increasingly competitive sector.

How Jack Welch effectively addressed the Step in his management of change at GE