Every change management enthusiast is often likely in a dilemma in the war between Kotter and Lewin. Change management has been a complicated concept that has been explained by different theories. All the present theoretical approaches developed for explaining change management often present unique perspectives of the concept. Kotter’s 8-step process and Lewin change management model have been the most respected and known theories. The two major theories measure up against one another when analyzed side by side.
The Lewin change management model is a three-step process that includes unfreezing, changing, and refreezing. Every stage is dependent on the other and they are applied respectively. In the first stage, the organization must be broken into different pieces to allow systems, process behavior changes to take place. The “unfreeze” stage requires top-notch awareness of change ( Cummings et al., 2016 ). Its success is determined by the level of motivation and understanding of change. At such point, the leader requires to have developed a message as to why the old ways of handling issues are irrelevant and produce a vision for a better future. During the second stage, the organization welcomes the change plan and the transitioning routes to new grounds. The leaders and the employees should take active responsibilities during transition. The most important practice in the third stage is to manage consistency. Properly managed consistency helps the changes to be internalized by staff, adjusted, and monitored for reinforcement. The leader plays a pivotal role to reinforce the new behaviors throughout the organization.
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The Kotter change management comprises of 8 steps that promise a complete transition from old ways to new and better behaviors. The eight steps are creating a logic of urgency, establish a guiding coalition, create strategy and vision, including a volunteer team, empower broad-based action, set short-term wins, sustain acceleration and anchoring new strategies in culture (Small et al., 2016). The process of change by Kotter starts by evaluating the situation of the organization. For a change to occur, the whole organization must be willing to shed off the previous norms and welcome better-designed ways. Therefore, the leader must begin by creating a sense of urgency around the reason for the change. The best reason should be a convincing and genuine dialogue about the marketing environment. On the second step, it is important to persuade the staff and all other members that the change is vital. The model takes more steps to clear all obstacles and create the urge to perform and accept the change by giving the vision that is purely tied to wins. Finally, the model insists on making changes to the core of the organization. As a result, the new culture of the company will be embedded in the new change.
The two models use similar concepts to generate a complete process that manages change in an organization. Unlike Lewin change management model, Kotter’s model has eight steps that explain the process of change. Therefore, Kotter’s model has 5 more stages compared to Lewin's model. The Kotter’s 8-step process ensures there is an organizational change in mind. Therefore, the whole organization is informed about the ongoing change and the motive for the diversion. Always, the members are included fully to make a thorough mind change of the organization. On the other hand, the model ensures that all barriers against the change are erased by creating a sense of urgency to each member. On the other hand, the Lewin model was created with reference to change more generally. In the first stage, the model focus on unfreezing whereby the organization is splinted into different pieces. Therefore, the staffs are not addressed individually to understand the concept and reason for the breakage.
Despite the differences, the two theories have different similarities based on their tools, concept and challenges. In the first case, the two theories give awareness of the need for the organization. Lewin’s model asserts that diagnostic approaches such as interview and questionnaires must be conducted. On the other hand, Kotter’s model begins by creating the urgency of change. Logically, awareness is the first step before creating urgency. Secondly, the two theories focus on developing a defined communication plan. Lewin’s unfreeze stage insist that an organization should fully disclose the state of change and elaborate more on the need for the change. On the other hand, Kotter’s model mentions communication as a vital coalition’s responsibilities. Step four also insists that the change is irrelevant without a communication plan. Lastly, the two theories have a way to manage resistance. Lewin’s model addresses on resistance to change in the unfreezing stage. The weakness is replaced by the motivation to change. On the other hand, Kotter’s model speaks about creating a movement rather than presenting an idea. In this case, the model advocates for a volunteer army.
The two theories make a crucial impact on implementing change in any environment. For instance, Lewin’s model helps an organization to determine what needs to be changed. The model also ensures that the change has strong support from senior management. On the other hand, Kotter’s model plays a bigger role by establishing an irresistible movement through the volunteer army. The volunteer army ensures that the change is neutral and is accepted by all members of the organization. It is clear that some aspects of the two models may somewhat resemble but one can recognize the significant difference they apply when explaining change management. Nonetheless, they both make valid conclusions and assumptions in their unique ways.
References
Cummings, S., Bridgman, T., & Brown, K. G. (2016). Unfreezing change as three steps: Rethinking Kurt Lewin’s legacy for change management. Human relations , 69 (1), 33-60.
Small, A., Gist, D., Souza, D., Dalton, J., Magny-Normilus, C., & David, D. (2016). Using Kotter's change model for implementing bedside handoff: a quality improvement project. Journal of nursing care quality , 31 (4), 304-309.
