John P. Kotter

Leading change: why transformation efforts fail

This publication contains reprint articles for which IEEE does not hold copyright. Full text is not available on IEEE Xplore for these articles.

Choosing Strategies for Change

Change, though traumatic, can be good for some people, but many others, especially in their daily employment, feel threatened by any alteration in the status quo. Organizations by their very nature must change, and increasingly rapidly--and managers must implement changes and overcome resistance to them. Here are four basic reasons people resist change, various ways of dealing with that resistance, and a guide to the kinds of approaches to use with different types of opposition.

The Maturation of Career Theory

Career theory, like the phenomena it describes, has grown and developed over the past century. During that time, four main types of theory have emerged. This paper examines the contributions and limitations of each type, starting with the oldest, and identifies the most fundamental trends in the evolution of this theory. The key trend identified is a continuous shift from a relatively static to a relatively dynamic theory. The paper offers a synthesis of this literature, and concludes by suggesting what types of research and theoretical development are now needed if career theory is to continue to mature.

Managing External Dependence1

The article discusses an organizations external dependence and basic approaches to managing external elements such as supply chains, bank loans, competition for market share and customers, a major stockholder, and labor markets. Two ways to manage external dependence are: to reduce external demands and increase countervailing power by the choice of a domain or niche market for products or services, expansion through diversification, favorable relations with external elements, and control of operations in the domain; and to minimize the cost of complying with external demands by modifying organizational design to adapt to the external environment.

Problems of Human Resource Management in Rapidly Growing Companies

High-growth companies are of special interest to managers, investors, and the public at large. The authors of this article draw on their experience with several such firms to identify a set of common human resource problems that these companies seem to share. How these problems are addressed has a significant bearing on the continued ability of the company to maintain its record of success, these authors maintain. Several solutions used by successful rapid-growth companies are presented.

General managers are not generalists

dlC ost of us think of general managers as generalists. So do they. Most general managers (GMs) whom I have known felt that they could do a pretty good job of managing or advising nearly any organization-another division in their company, another company, a state or federal department, even a business school. They were not necessarily interested in doing so, but they felt that they and other really good managers could do so if they wanted. The underlying belief herethat a really well-prepared and competent “professional” manager can manage nearly anything-is probably shared by many others, including some business school academics. Nevertheless, data from a recent study strongly suggest that this belief is almost entirely wrong (see the box on page 6 for a description of the study). Almost all of the GMs I have met in the course of this study, and elsewhere, are highly specialized. That is, they have an unusual set of personal characteristics that closely fit the specific demands of the contexts in which they work. Those demands are in some ways similar for all GM situations, yet in other ways they are different; therefore, effective GMs are also very similar in some ways and quite different in other ways, The process of specialization that creates those similarities and differences seems to start nearly at birth and to continue

Seizing opportunities and dodging threats with a dual operating system

Purpose – This internationally recognized innovation expert asserts that todays organizations need a powerful new operating system to address the challenges posed by mounting complexity and rapid change. Design/methodology/approach – As a consultant to companies seeking to re-invigorate the innovation process, the author can describe how they have implemented the dual operating system – a network and a hierarchy – that he advocates. Findings – When organizations are dangerously slow to adapt to competitive threats and to pursue promising innovations, the solution to, which has been adopted successfully by many organizations, is to add a second operating system that is organized as a network that can create agility and speed. Practical implications – The author explains how all successful organizations operate with a dual system more or less during the most dynamic growth period in their life cycle, so a dual operating system will be somewhat familiar to veteran leaders. Originality/value – The organizations top management plays a crucial role in starting and maintaining the network and managing its communications with the hierarchy. For senior practitioners, the author describes the five basic principles of a well-functioning dual operating system.

Corporate Career Systems and Individual Career Profiles: A Longitudinal Analysis.

We demonstrate the validity of the four-cell typology of career system by classifying 122 MBA graduates into the four cells by firm and comparing them on a range of variables. The data reveal signi...

Self Assessment and Career Development: a Course in the Selection and Management of a Career

In the late Spring of 1972, the Harvard Business School authorized a budget for the development of a new second year MBA elective course to focus on &dquo;career planning and job choice.&dquo; Subsequently, John Kotter, Tony Athos, Charles McArthur, and Victor Faux have been involved in the development and teaching of this new course, now called Self Assessment and Career Development (SACD). Student response has been extremely favorable: enrollment has grown from 20 in 1972 to somewhat under 200 in 1975 (approximately 25% of the class). The results of the student course evaluation questionnaire rate the course as about the most valuable offered in the second year MBA program and 73 people who took the course in 1973 recently responded in a questionnaire that their positive opinions had not changed after graduation and eight months in the world of work.