Comparing Large-scale Change Techniques and Traditional Guiding Coalition Approach

Module 8 DQ 1
Compare and contrast large-scale change techniques with the traditional guiding coalition approach. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each?
Introduction
The last module of this course discusses the characteristics of effective organizations for the future. Speed (velocity) and discontinuous change will characterize the business environment into a foreseeable future. Leaders of organizations can and must pay attention to a few vital characteristics. Leaders, who pay attention to these vital characteristics, will be able to foster success for themselves and for others with the organization.
Consistent Themes
Throughout the course, consistent themes have emerged which organizational leaders must identify as areas of focus for change agents.
A Persistent Sense of Urgency
There is no place for complacency in today's global enterprise system. In order to assess performance, feedback systems must be put into place to assess organizational and individual performance measures. Kotter (1996) makes a case for candid discussions as an easy but difficult concept. When executives engage in fruitful discussions, of both the positive and negative aspects in organizational performance, there is a chance that competitive advantage will emerge. These discussions should bear vital information for executives, and promote rapid reaction and visionary change. Anything less than candid dialogue will promote suboptimal results.
In-fighting, betrayal, and other negative leadership characteristics will be seen as counterproductive. An atmosphere of collegial respect, sharing, trust, and coordination will foster good results.
People Who Can Create and Communicate a Vision
Kotter (1996) highlights the status quo in many organizations; narrowly defined jobs, risk-averse cultures, and negative leader behaviors that do not grow and foster leader development in the organization are a few examples that can occur.
To embark on the new frontier of the global enterprise system, distributed leadership is highlighted as a theme in the leadership literature. The force of change and related competitive markets of global enterprise foster much of the development of this literature. Kotter believes that all individuals in the marketplace will have to be leaders in their own right. For the purposes of their positions in the organization, in order to fully keep track, leaders must measure and have a vision of future products and markets.
Teamwork at the Top
A team of individuals capable of sharing information, trusting one-another and cooperating for the benefit of the organization will enhance reactive speed and visionary leadership in the market.
Kotter (1996) identifies a long list of 20th century characteristics that have led the business community where it is today. Alongside the 20th century, characteristics are a list of 21st century characteristics. Many 20th century organizations have achieved sustained excellence and daunting market shares by not using shared leadership and teamwork strategies as sited in the literature. Again, managers have to confront the reality that neither O. B. (organizational behavior) nor its related discipline, O. D. (organizational development), have advanced to the point of making blanket prescriptions that apply universally. It is more appropriate to think through what needs to be done, than to put these characteristics to work in one's own leadership style at home and at work.
Leadership and Lifelong Learning
Kotter (1996) identifies life-long learning as a competitive capacity and outlines an agenda for the development of a mental state for life-long learning that includes certain characteristics:
- Risk-taking
- Humble self-reflection
- Careful listening
- Openness to new ideas
In a leadership career, one should think about one's own characteristics of life-long learning, and take the time to evaluate one's own strengths and weaknesses. It is particularly important to one's future to work on weaknesses. In nearly every field of human endeavor, from Nobel Laureates, sports figures, or leaders in all walks of life, people who excel invariably focus on addressing their weaknesses with integrity, vigor, and commitment to change. Most of all, they seek to grow, transform, and change themselves.
Large-scale Change
Like the literature that exists on distributed leadership, literature on large-scale strategic change is developing throughout the business literature. This theory of large-scale change is born just as the need for speed and efficiency is noted in the change literature covered in this course.
In large-scale change initiatives, change initiatives are developed to put hundreds of people in dialogue on the business issues facing an organization. In these change initiatives, employees are chartered to work together to discuss, problem-solve, and design new initiatives to accommodate customers, suppliers, and any other source of discontinuous change facing the organization.
Large-scale events are sound techniques where speed andcohesion in an employee population will drive excellent organizational results. For example, in 1995, a small group of consultants designed a strategic planning event for the United States Forestry Department. In this event, the consultants brought 1,500 people together from across the United States. In a one-week dialogue, through learning conversations, fact-finding, and problem-solving discussions, 1,500 people designed a strategic plan with 16 operating principles. These operating principles became the foundation for how the USFD manages forests for all people in the United States.
The event allowed individuals in dialogue to hear the perspectives of others. Spotted owl proponents had a dialogue with paper companies who wished to cut down the forests. Religious and indigenous peoples who believe forests are sacred conversed on issues with people who utilize the forests for their recreation. Each of these individuals was heard, and at the end of the week, everyone agreed upon 16 operating principles.
This large-scale technique is particularly helpful when speed and agreement is required for large numbers of people. For instance, one employer shut down a division of 2,000 workers to hold a strategic planning event that included the need to design new work systems and processes for a leading edge manufacturing plant constructed by the organization.
Conclusion
Change will be a constant. The ability to react swiftly to change, for organizations and the individuals who work for them, will be a significant success factor. Many tools and practices have been researched over the past century, which create planning and strategy roadmaps for handling change. Familiarizing oneself with these theories and strategies is essential for leadership success.
References
Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading change. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
This is from a peer
One commandment of implementing change is communicate, engage people and uphold honesty. Change leaders ought to communicate openly and seek the engagement and trust of people in the organization. Communication, disclosure, and involvement are potential tools for conquering resistance and giving workers a stake in the results of the change.
The commandment has a positive impact on the ability of an organization to respond rapidly to market conditions. Through open and honest communication, employees develop trust and loyalty to a company. Hence, if the market is to change, then they will be ready to make the necessary adjustments to make the company competitive. Similarly, communication facilitates sharing of market information and in this case from credible sources who are loyal employees. Getting market information beforehand provides an excellent opportunity for an organization to make plans to adapt to the changing market conditions. That encourages leadership to prevail within the organization as well as innovation and creativity by welcoming ideas from other employees and involving them in devising a plan to respond to the changes (Kotter, 1996). Also, upholding honesty through communication creates a sense of security for the entire organization. That is because the workers will know their exact position in the market and the risks they face. That helps the organization to stand the test of time as the employees understand that they have to make changes so that they can fit into the existing market conditions. In this regard, implementing organizational change becomes easier and effective. Engaging people gives them a sense of responsibility, confidence and the power to make decisions. Through such collaboration, people find it easy to break the old patterns that seem difficult to break and adopt new techniques, roles, responsibilities or patterns (Casciaro, Edmondson, & Harvard Business School, 2007).
Reference
Casciaro, T., Edmondson, A. C., & Harvard Business School. (2007). Leading change at Simmons (B). Boston: Harvard Business Publishing. 9-406-046. Retrieved July, 22, 2015 from http://gcumedia(dot)com/digital-resources/harvard-business-school-press/2007/change-at-simmons-part-b_1e.php
Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading change. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press.
Wyckoff, D. D., Hart, C. W. L., & Lytle, L. N. (1989). Singapore Airlines. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School. Retrieved September, 8, 2015 from http://gcumedia(dot)com/digital-resources/harvard-business-school-press/1989/change-singapore-airlines-part-a_1e.php