Stories of Change

Change
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Introduction
The element of any organization is very crucial as it defines the element of management in the organization and also defines the position of the company in question within the market. The market is a dynamic element and the organizations are more often than not forced to conform to the changes taking place, rather than define the market. The process of developing the changes in the origination, are as every bit messy as they are rewarding (Palmer, Dunford, & Akin, 2006). There are a number of constraints that are associated with change in the organization, such that the management cannot effect changes without having to deal with aspects such as the shareholder, staffs, competing companies, legal implications and many other determinants. Depending on the industry and the company in question, the change elements and effects to firms is unique, however there are some baseline aspects that can be seen to emerge from any change in an organization (Kourdi, 2009). This paper brings out the element of change in different companies and the various aspects associated with process. Using Kotter’s Model, it is much easier to establish the dynamics of change in the organization.
Mistakes in Response to Change With Reference To Kotter’s Model
Business is defined by the changes that take place in the market; regardless of the amount of change that occur within the given time. However, the most crucial aspect of the changes that the organization has to deal with is the responses to the same. It is also important to note that regardless of the level of expertise that a certain manager has with reference to the market, it is always difficult to affect the strategies in response to change. There are so many moving parts that have to be considered. John Kotter one of the renowned professors lecturing at Harvard business school, came up with one of the best models that can be applied in the event that a company is going through change. In light of the changes and the strategies that, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Kodak, and McDonald’s have gone through there are some mistakes that can be identifies relative to the steps suggested by Kotter in his model.
One of the main mistakes that the companies made was creating weak coalitions. This meant that while the ideas about change may have been floated well in their various companies, the coalitions backing the need for the strategies proposed were weak and unwilling to champion for the same. This is a clear indication from struggles that HP, Kodak and IBM had in common. As such their strategies were greeted with a lot of resentment from the parties that were supposed to be implementing the same. With reference to leaders chosen to bring the change all the companies failed at first and only came to realize the same later after the damage had been done. It is for this reason that changes in management is seen to replicate in the four companies towards the turnaround points.
According to Kotter one of the main steps that any of the management teams is supposed to follow is communicating the vision of the changes that the company is about to deal with. This comes after the vision of the change anticipa...