Organizational Change The failure of many institutional giants can be attributed to deadly complacency within the organization. When complacency becomes a comfortable part of the organizational culture, it may be doomed to failure. Urgency helps to reignite the organization, to allow it to compete in a rapidly changing marketplace and competitive environment.

As Bustillo (2011) points out, Wal*Mart recognizes the need for organizational change and understands how to create a sense of urgency. Wal*Mart is "is taking on competitive threats from Amazon.com Inc. And other big online retailers by testing out home delivery of groceries," (Bustillo, 2011). If the move towards home delivery is not aggressive enough because of its narrow focus, then Wal*Mart could start experiencing successive failures that might hurt the company. Resistances to Wal*Mart's new home delivery program could come from a variety of sources, including consumers who do not value Wal*Mart's brand equity and would prefer to stick with the smaller companies offering similar services.

According to Kotter (n.d.), the world is changing too rapidly...

An information-based society makes the spread of ideas so rapid that consumer demands can be anticipated and met almost instantaneously. Companies that ignore trends in the market, as well as cues from competitors, risk sinking into oblivion. Wal*Mart's push to meet increasing consumer demand for home deliveries reveals an intelligent sense of urgency in the company: it "signaled Wal-Mart's urgency to grab a bigger piece of the online sales pie," (Bustillo, 2011). However, Wal*Mart needs to take specific action to overcome resistance on the part of consumers to using a social media site other than Facebook. Wal*Mart might be better off integrating its social media strategy with Facebook rather than fighting Facebook.
Urgency is a "combination of thoughts, feelings, and actions," according to Kotter (n.d.). Thoughts are the awareness of "great opportunities" as well as "great hazards." In the case of Wal*Mart, the company recognizes the "great opportunities" in investing in a direct to consumer online sales format like that of Amazon.com. Wal*Mart also understands the "great hazards"…