Abstract

Leading Change by John P. Kotter and Organizational Behavior and Management by Ivancevich are centered around the themes and concepts of an eight stage process that incorporates the ideas of establishing a sense of urgency, creating the guiding coalition, developing a vision and strategy, communicating the change vision, empowering employees for broad-based action, generating short-term wins, consolidating gains and producing more change, and anchoring new approaches of each author. Leading Change and the related text are findings that complement the explorations of each author. One may find the relationship between the books to be astounding as the authors appear to mirror each other’s ideas, but one author provides insight through the use of experience and opinions, while the other uses research and supporting evidence. An effective manager should be able to integrate the concepts of organizational behavior and leadership in order to properly communicate, implement, and transform the projects of an organization whose goal is to become more competitive. The text on Organizational Behavior has provided the research and theories on the effective use of human resources, while Kotter offers a situational approach that one can easily relate to. The integration of Kotter’s eight stage process along with the text by Ivancevich have provided me with a better understanding of leadership as an ongoing fundamental process and organizational behavior as a principle that should be apparent in all organizations. Research on organizational behavior has developed into practices that many managers implement in day-to-day activities. The study of organizational behavior in and of itself is centered on the evaluation of the human resources of companies including: management, supervisors, personnel, and employees. Understanding and evaluating the attributes of key persons in a process can lead to more effective management practices and satisfied employees. Establishing a Sense of Urgency - StageOne

Stage one in the eight stage process is establishing a sense of urgency. Establishing a sense of urgency is the ability to get employees passionate enough to follow the appropriate guidelines to produce change in quality of products, cost reduction, and so forth. Before a sense of urgency can be established, management must evaluate the internal and external environments that influence the urgency level. Chapters one through three in the text on organizational behavior introduces the importance of environmental forces that reshape management application, culture, and individual differences and work behavior. These aspects must be considered before a manager tries to establish a sense of urgency. “A number of forces are reshaping the nature of managing within organizations” (Ivancevich p.5). The environmental forces include, but are not limited to; the power of human resources, globalism, cultural diversity, rapidity of change, and technology. As organizations become international, managers must be aware of the changes in business practices. Every organization has a culture that is clearly defined through the norms and behavior exhibited in daily operations. Individual differences affect the way that employees perceive their work environment. Individual differences are comprised of age, ethnicity, gender, educational background, work experience, and religious beliefs. Those differences should e considered when management tries to make a concerted effort to establish a sense of urgency. Organizational culture is discussed in Leading Change and the related text, however, the integration of both findings will provide a better understanding of cultural diversity and organizational culture as a whole. Organizational culture either provides an attachment to an organization or dissatisfaction with the values and norms. The degree of socialization into an organization is important in learning the organizational culture and increasing urgency levels. “Socialization is the activities by which an individual comes to appreciate the values, abilities, expected behaviors, and social knowledge essential for assuring an organizational role and participating as an organization member” (Ivancevich, p.43). If a new employee perceives an organization’s culture as being laissez-faire, he or she will direct their behavior according to the norms. On the other hand, a new employee may perceive the work environment as being challenging and fast-pace; which will lead to increased urgency levels. Cultural differences can also play a part in management’s effort to motivate employees. A content approach to motivation, providing in Organizational Behavior and Management, is Maslow’s Need Hierarchy. “The lowest level of needs are the physiological needs, and the highest level needs are the self-actualization needs” (Ivancevich, p.113). The needs in this hierarchy are categorized as physiological, safety and security, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization. Cultural diversity can play a part in the importance and perception of each need. People that are from individualistic countries may have a stronger need for self-actualization; while someone from a collectivistic country may access motivation through belongingness needs. Motivation can assist in establishing a sense of urgency if a manager is aware of the perceptions, attributions, and emotions that various people deem important. Kotter does not give reference to all of the differences associated with Organizational Behavior and Management, but he does provide an approach that focuses on the importance of having a vision, evaluating markets and competition, and using a management tactic that highly favors characteristics of leadership. According to Kotter, an appropriate vision and transformation effort can easily dissolve into a list of confusing, incompatible, and time-consuming projects that go in the wrong direction of nowhere at all. Employees must understand and show interest in a vision in order for urgency levels to increase. Through the evaluation of markets and competition, top management will be able to focus their objectives towards the necessity to remain at the top of their industry. Kotter also emphasizes the importance of leading change (instead of managing) when organizations are trying to align people with a vision. Establishing a sense of urgency requires the understanding and cooperation among a group of employees. Having consideration for environmental forces, culture, leading, and incorporating a vision will assist in increasing the urgency levels among workers. Management must be cautious in evaluating all of the stated forces before attempting to establish a sense of urgency.

Creating the Guiding Coalition – Stage Two A guiding coalition is a team that assembles to initiate and communicate the efforts of top management. The text uses the term “team” to speak of a guiding coalition. Before discussing the effectiveness of a guiding coalition (team), we must examine the potential group, organizational, and non-work stressors that may have an impact on the productivity of a group. Participation, intra- and inter-group relationships, organizational politics, organizational culture, lack of performance feedback, inadequate career development opportunities, and personal strain are all potential stressors that can determine the fate of a guiding coalition. “Participation refers to the extent that a person’s knowledge, opinions, and ideas are included in the decision-making process” (Ivancevich, p.we0). Organizations should encourage participation throughout the decision-making-process; ultimately embracing creativity and innovation. Intra- and inter-group relationships may include synergy, trust, and supportiveness. Poor relationships within a group can deter individual group members from performing at a higher level of efficiency. Organizational politics can be a cause of stress to group members whose peers engage in power struggles and political conflict. An organization’s culture can influence or interfere with the level of political behavior used throughout the structure of an organization. Implementation of ideas and projects should be followed by performance feedback. Performance feedback is crucial to the quality of the decisions made by a group. Downsizing and inadequate growth opportunities can have a psychological affect on individuals within a group. Non-work stressors are caused outside of the organization such as taking care of one’s family, volunteering in the community, and balancing work and family roles. Knowing the potentialities of work and non-work stress can help a manager to create a guiding coalition. “A guiding coalition that operates as an effective team can process more information, more quickly. It can also speed the implementation of new approaches because powerful people are truly informed and committed to key decisions” (Kotter, pp. 55-56). A team is a mature group of individuals that are developed to pursue a common goal. A guiding coalition can process more information quicker due to the fact that each individual has various experiences and attributes that contribute to the effectiveness of decision-making. A team must go through the stages of development to achieve a common goal. The stages of development are forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. The forming stage of development is characterized by establishing a purpose. In this stage, the group members are trying to understanding the objectives, roles and tasks that are assigned by top management. The storming stage of development is marked by conflict and confrontation of the members. At this time, the members are creating the work atmosphere that will be apparent in the latter stages of development. Norming is defined by the agreed upon goals of the team. This is the stage where cohesiveness develops and collaboration takes place. At the performing stage, the team is well aware of the norms and objectives. The performing stage is aimed at accomplishing the goals that were set forth during the forming stage. Adjourning is the last stage in group development where the team is discharged of their activities. Kotter was well ahead of his time, envisioning a world where organizations would promote teamwork, while realistically living in a time that underestimated the power a team could withhold. One very important and persistent concept apparent in Leading Change and Organizational Behavior and Management is the effectiveness of teams. Self-managed teams are a fashionable alternative to one person who has the responsibility of leading a project. Self-managed teams (SMTs) are empowered to perform without the intervention of outside direction. SMTs collectively have enough intellect to spearhead their own operations. Leadership is a characteristic that is necessary for the goal accomplishment for all groups. A guiding coalition must exhibit leadership and management skills, be proactive in the formulation of alternatives to pre-existing processes, and operate with the common goal of the group as well as the objectives of the organization as a whole. Team work has proven to be more productive than individual performance; however, there are also disadvantages. Groupthink, negative conflict, and social loafing are disadvantages that are affiliated with teams. Groupthink occurs when teams are more loyal to the group than to the objectives of an organization. “The deterioration of the mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment of the individual members of the group in the interest of group solidarity” (Ivancevich, p.272) are the side effects of groupthink. Unresolved conflict in a group can have a negative impact on the performance of a team. The more diverse a team is, the harder it may be to resolve conflicts. Social loafing occurs when certain members of a team fail to do their share of assignments. Social loafers are aware that the team will be affected by their careless decisions. The other group members may be forced to fulfill the social loafer’s responsibility because teams are evaluated as a whole.

Developing a Vision and Strategy – Stage Three

“In a change process, a good vision serves three important purposes. First by clarifying the general direction for change, by saying the corporate equivalent of “we need to be south of here in a few years instead of where we are today,” it simplifies hundreds or thousands of more detailed decisions. Second, it motivates people to take action in the right direction, even if the initial steps are personally painful. Third, it helps coordinate the actions of different people, even thousands and thousands of individuals in a remarkably fast and efficient way” (Kotter, pp.68-89). Kotter could not have described the need for a vision better. A vision serves as the purpose for the existence of any organization. Decision making skills and a highly favorable level of leadership will greatly influence the development of a vision. Developing a vision encompasses involving all of the stakeholders of a business, ranging from the production worker to the end customer. Leaders must be able to make valuable decisions when a vision is in the process of development. Decisions consist of non-programmed and programmed situation; the former requires a leader to be proactive and charismatic enough to produce change. When a leader is developing a vision he or she must be able to decide upon priorities; as the vision will have an effect on the whole supply chain. “Determining problem significance involves consideration of three issues: urgency, impact, and growth tendency” (Ivancevich, p.386). Urgency refers to the critical nature of time and resources. Impact is the seriousness that the subject matter has on all stakeholders, and growth tendency emphasizes future conditions. A leader should consider all stakeholders in the organizations, while incorporating a means of success, to develop a vision that holds value to employees.

Communicating the Change Vision – Stage Four

A vision is the most valuable when it is communicated and understood at all levels of the organization’s structure. Failure to communicate a change vision can result in a forced culture and resistance to the credibility of one who is trying to communicate the change vision. Kotter focuses on metaphors, analogies, examples, and repetition to assist in communicating the change vision. Using metaphors, analogies, and examples make the message easier to receive than using long lectures and unnecessary jargon. People are more responsive to something to which they can easily identify. Organizational Behavior and Management provides more detail of what effective communication should entail. The elements of communication according to the test are: the communicator, encoding, message, medium, decoding-receiver, feedback, noise. The communicator is the person with the ideas and the purpose for communicating. Encoding is the process that involves the translation of the communicator’s ideas into an expression of the communicator’s purpose. The message is the result of encoding. The medium is the tunnel through which the message is carried. Mediums of communication include, but are not limited to: email, telephone, fax, face-to-face communication, group meetings, and memos. Due to the globalization of many firms, electronic media is becoming more prevalent in business practices. Decoding involves interpretation of the message that is being communicated by the receiver. Feedback is advantageous when it indicates the degree to which the message was decoded by the receiver. Noise can be thought of as something that intervenes with the intended communication of the message. Nonverbal communication may also influence the way that receivers decode a message. A manager or team that is trying to communicate a change vision should be cognizant of the importance of nonverbal cues. Nonverbal cues may distort the message in ways that make it difficult in which to relate. Nonverbal messages are body gestures that should coordinate with the ideas of the communicator. Aspects of communicating a change vision should be highly informative. Face-to-face communications is the most informative due to the immediate feedback of the receiver. Effectively communicating a change vision is important in the understanding of the message. Technological advances have made it possible for people to communicate through email, instant messaging, video and teleconferencing. Through this fast communication tunnel, people are always available for information sharing, however, the communicator should be aware that those forms of communication are low in information richness. The communicator of a change vision should also note other barriers to effective communication like filtering, selective listening, value judgments, and the credibility of the source. A credible source is one that will lead by example and is a valuable person in the eyes of the receiver. Communication is a key concept that will have an impact on the understanding and interest in employees following a change vision.

Empowering Employees for Broad-Based Action – Stage Five

“The purpose of stage five is to empower a broad base of people to take action by removing as many barriers to the implementation of the change vision as possible at this point in the process” (Kotter, p.102). Before empowerment takes place, employees must be aware of their job design, content, and context as cited in chapter six of the text. While employees are aware of their job design, management should be able to provide training systems and valuable feedback after empowerment has taken place. Job content is the actual activities required to perform a job satisfactorily. The context of a job is the physical demands and working conditions that are related to the activities of a job. Working conditions are situations that can help or hinder an employee from performing a job as described in its design. Common working conditions are the environment of the work place and the leadership style existing among managers. If employees have an understanding of the makeup of a position, it will be easier for a manager to delegate responsibility. Training allows employees to build enough confidence to make better and valuable decisions. “Empowerment is encouraging and/or assisting individuals and groups to make decisions that affect their work environments” (Ivancevich, p.523). Through empowerment, managers allow employees to make more decisions. The level of empowerment varies depending on the way management perceives its ability to delegate authority. Some managers may fear a loss of authority and may not be confident with their subordinates becoming involved in the decision making process. If empowerment is practiced, employees may notice a difference in the range and depth of their responsibilities. Delegating authority to subordinates increases the likelihood of better performance. Management should also be prepared to have an evaluation system in place that complements the new responsibilities for employees. Generating Short Term Wins – Stage Six

After the vision is communicated and employees are empowered to make decisions, generating short term wins will provide the guiding coalition with the necessary feedback to see if the vision is being properly implemented. A vision is the bigger picture, but short term wins will let employees know if they are setting realistic objectives that will lead to the vision being accomplished. Generating short term wins will also provide the necessary feedback that will determine if the vision is an accurate portrayal of what the guiding coalition wants to achieve. While short term wins are necessary to forecast the strengths and weaknesses of the vision; there are some prerequisites that must be obtained. “With no sense of urgency, a lack of key managers on the guiding coalition, the failure to communicate an effective vision well, and little effort put into broad-based employee empowerment, people in over managed and under led organizations sit on the sidelines during change; especially managers who could be instrumental in producing needed short-term results” (Kotter, pp.126-127). Everyone that is involved in a transformation effort is instrumental in generating short-term wins. Power, politics, and empowerment (chapter 12) in the work environment plays an essential role in generating short term wins. A manager who uses coercive power can hinder the performance efforts of an employee who is making an effort to comply with objectives. Coercive power gives a manager the power to punish, which challenges subordinates’ performance with fear of termination or penalization. A change effort should be guided by managers that exercise the use of referent, expert, and reward power. The use of politics in generating short term wins can be noted as the influence that superiors have to gain the support of subordinates. The tactic of consultation is important when the guiding coalition needs the support in order to generate short term wins. Consultation allows employees to participate in the decision making process, hence the term empowerment. Successful transformation in organizations is guided by a leader who must utilize management tactics that assist in generating short term wins.

Consolidating Gains and Producing More Change – Stage Seven

After short term wins are generated, management must be careful in avoiding the halo effect associated with it. In the transformation process, more change is likely to occur immediately after generating short term wins. According to Kotter, a critical momentum can be lost, followed by regression, if someone gives up before the job is done. Keeping the urgency levels high is essential to long term success. Consolidating gains and producing more change allows everyone associated with a transformation to be more innovative than their competition. Stage seven in the eight stage process can be complemented by the chapter on managing organizational change and innovation in the text. Managing organizational change allows managers to consolidate gains and produce more change in the transformation process. “Managers can implement power through their control over rewards and sanctions. They can determine the conditions of employment including promotion and advancement” (Ivancevich, pp.481-482). Creating a work atmosphere that rewards employees of a job well done will aid in the transformation effort, but also creating a norm of constant innovation is essential to producing the needed change. An internal change agent can maneuver the change effort into an ongoing process that requires the constant attention to details, quality, productivity, and customer service. The internal change agent will constantly remind a winning team that there is always room for more improvement after a victory. According to Kotter, reducing complacency is vital in the consolidation gains and producing more change. To some extent, all change will be met with resistance, but the guiding coalition should be able to use approaches that will decrease the degree of resistance. Some notable approaches are structural, task and technological, and people approaches.

Anchoring New Approach in the Culture – Stage Eight

Among the notable approaches to resistance, structural approaches have become persistent in an effort to flatten some organizational hierarchies. Flatter structures in organizations allow management to empower lower level employees and managers in the decision-making process. Flattening the structure in an organization has a direct impact on the culture and norms of a work environment. Major change in transformation efforts will overwhelm the influence that culture has on all employees. Anchoring new approaches in an organization’s culture is a long process that requires norms to be adjusted. An organization’s culture can shape the way that employees act on a daily basis. No one, not even the guiding coalition, can successfully force culture on a group of people. Culture is learned through experiences and perceptions that individuals have. The concept of socialization, as mentioned earlier, is a process that can assist in the development of an understood and valued culture in the work place. “When shared values are supported by the hiring of similar personalities into an organization, changing the culture may require changing people” (Kotter, p.155). Changing people may be a very difficult goal to accomplish that is why anchoring a new culture can be met with resistance. Using extreme caution in altering the culture of an organization is important because culture is a solid force that will (in the early stages of change) resist the efforts of change. The eight stages of the transformation process will only be successful, if every stage is implemented throughout the change effort. Establishing a sense of urgency can be incorporated into every stage of the process because a complete transformation requires innovation and an enduring process of learning. The text on organizational behavior and management will make someone more knowledgeable of job design, team work, communication, empowerment, and conflict.

Conclusion Organizational behavior and leadership are concepts that work together throughout the eight stage process. Further, organizational behavior is the foundation of leadership that provides insight on individual perceptions, motivation, teamwork, and feedback. An effective manager should be able to integrate the concepts of organizational behavior and leadership in order to properly communicate, implement, and transform the projects of an organization that is aiming towards being more competitive. The text on organizational behavior have provided the research and theories on the effective use of human resources, while Kotter offered a situational approach to which one can relate. The integration of Kotter’s eight stage process, along with the text by Ivancevich, have present me with the opportunity to better understand leadership as an ongoing fundamental process and organizational behavior as a principle that should be apparent in all organizations.

References

Ivancevich, J., Konopaske, R., & Matteson, M. (Ninth Edition). Organizational Behavior and Management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies.
Kotter, J. (1996). Leading Change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press