The biggest failure of this article is the lack of directness and candor the authors call out CEOs for not having a consistency of vision and direction to support their organizations, and in so doing, create effective incentive and compensation programs. The authors have proposed no metrics despite a wealth of theorems and theoretical constructs, further distancing their analysis from the immediate, pragmatic needs of companies who require a very consistent vision in order to succeed.
References
Rotemberg, J.J., & Saloner, G. (2000). Visionaries, Managers, and Strategic Direction. The Rand Journal of Economics, 31(4), 693-716.
Wilson, I. (1992). Realizing the power of strategic vision. Long-Range Planning, 25(5), 18-18.
Leading Change Critique
Body of the Critique and Summary
The foundation of Leading Change (Gebhart, 1996) is the eight phases of the Kotter Model of Change. The author has carefully defined each of the eight stages of the Kotter Model of Change, making the first, which is increase urgency, a foundational element of their analysis (Gebhart, 1996). The author says that "leaders can alleviate the complacency that grips organizations by concentrating more on having a compelling sense of urgency that change is necessary for improvement" and the attainment of a challenging objectives and goals (Gebhart, 1996).
Defining the steps of building guiding teams, getting the vision right, communication for buy-in and enabling action are what the author indicates as being critical for long-term change to become the new normal of an organization (Gebhart, 1996). Juxtaposing these steps with the need for creating short-term wins, don't let up in terms of intensity to change, and finally, making change stock as being all critically important for the long-term change management to occur (Gebhart, 1996). The author delineates the past three phases of creating short-term wins, not letting up, and making it stick (or making change last) as all being critical...
While celebrating short-term gains, leaders also need to produce more change and keep up the momentum"(Gebhart, 1996). These are essential strategies for change management and must be orchestrated well across all eight phases, regardless of the duration of the change being attempted, which is a key point Dr. Kotter has made in commentary before of the Kotter Model of Change (Iveroth, 2012).
The author has taken a very organized, methodical approach to defining the eight steps of the Kotter Model of Change. In so doing, they haven't provided enough analysis of each step, and have failed to show how a sense of urgency can fuel the entire process, and in fact must if lasting change is going to occur. The most significant shortcoming of the overall article is the isolation of urgency as a factor in overall success of all eight factors. Second, the rewarding of employees for "creating short-term wins by rewarding the change agents" is not enough to bring a high level of internalization for goals and objectives. The author fails to describe how lasting change is attained by not addressing this specific point.
Third and most significant there is no correlating analysis to other frameworks which could have provided a much greater level of insight into managing change. One is the reliance in Information Technologies (it) organizations on change management processes and methodologies that can provide greater risk mitigation and long-term planning flexibility (Iveroth, 2012). Another is the use of autonomy, mastery and purpose as a means to create greater levels of long-term motivation. Neither of these frameworks is discussed, which is a major shortcoming of the analysis.
References
Gebhart, J. (1996). Leading Change. Sloan Management Review, 38(1), 119-119.
Iveroth, E. (2012). Leading…
