Organizational Change Theories & Models – Action Management Associates

Facilitating organizational change.

Organizational change theories show that businesses are most likely to implement successful change if their leaders can effectively communicate a vision and welcome input from front-line employees who will be responsible for implementing the change. This is echoed by John Kotter, renowned Harvard Business School professor who outlines reasons that organizational change efforts fail in his article, “Leading Change:  Why Transformation Efforts Fail.” Kotter stresses the importance of creating a sense of urgency, developing and communicating a clear vision, removing obstacles to implementing the change, and planning for and creating short-term wins.

On paper, organizational change models such as this seems easy to implement. In reality, they are quite difficult. Organizational change efforts are facilitated when leaders use proven, systematic methods for identifying the reason for the change, developing innovative alternatives to address the issue, selecting the best course of action, and planning for any problems that may get in the way of success.

Action Management Associates has invested 28 years in refining and perfecting tools for critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making that facilitate the change process. Through our workshops, participants learn practical skills in cause analysis, creative problem solving, decision making and implementation that involve many parties and use group involvement to clearly uncover the core issues in a variety of problem situations. Business leaders who use these tools in a group setting find that they provide focus and clarity during a time of ambiguity, helping their organization move forward toward their change goals.