Change Management Model Recommendation for USA Branch

Change Management Models

Lewin’s change management model
Description
Developed in 1951, Lewin’s is one of the earliest planning and management change
models (Teczke, Bespayeva, & Bugubayeva, 2017). According to Lewin, change is a three-stage
process: unfreezing current behavior, moving to a new behavior (changing), and refreezing the
new behavior. Unfreezing means casting aside old ideas and practices so that new ideas can be
learned. Moving to the new behavior (changing) is the stage in which new ideas and practices are
learned. Refreezing means integrating into practice what has been learned.
Benefits
Lewin’s model captures how change actually happens: implementing change often
involves unlearning some practices and learning new ones (Kotter & Cohen, 2012). The model
also represents a straightforward tool for those new to change management.
Limitations
On the flip side, Lewin’s model tends to oversimplify the traditionally complex change
process. The model also fails to consider the soft or human aspects of change. Instead, it focuses
only on the hard or technical aspects, yet human factors are known to be just as important
(Kotter, Chan, Kim, & Mauborgne, 2011).
Kotter’s change management model
Description
In their book The Heart of Change, Kotter and Cohen (2012) elaborated on one of the
most highly influential change management models: the Eight-Step Model. The eight steps are

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increasing urgency, building a guiding team, getting the vision right, communicating for buy-in,
empowering for action, creating short-term wins, not letting up, and making change stick.
Benefits
Kotter’s model is regarded as one of the world’s leading change management models. It
has equally elaborated and greatly simplified the change process and codified it into an easy-to-
use guide for leaders and managers. It also reveals a fact about change processes; they are messy
and full of surprises.
Limitations
Celebrated as it is, it would appear that Kotter’s model is one of those change
management models that emphasize soft factors almost at the expense of the hard factors.
ADKAR change management model
Description
ADKAR was designed as a practical change management model. The model’s name is an
acronym with each letter representing one of five linear steps: awareness of the need for change,
desire and readiness to change, knowledge of how to effect change, ability to effect change, and
reinforcing change by providing ongoing support.
Benefits
The ADKAR model is more straightforward compared to Kotter’s model. It also strikes a
fair balance between soft and hard aspects of change management.
Limitations
Unlike Kotter’s model, the ADKAR model misses out on the intricacies of how change
happens. For instance, it does not bring out the messiness and back-and-forth nature of the
process.

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Recommendation

Of the three models, Kotter’s is recommended for the U.S. branch. As indicated earlier,
Kotter’s framework is possibly the world’s most popular and leveraged change management
model (Teczke et al., 2017). This is likely because, more than any other model, it brings out the
intricate details of what initiating and implementing organizational change entails, especially as
elaborated in the book The Heart of Change. It is also worth noting that, for each of the eight
steps, the book has several real-life stories illustrating how people have actually effected change
in their organizations; these add credence to the model.
Problem areas
A major problem that emerges from the leaders’ self-assessments is that, for the most
part, the leaders are ill-equipped to manage change. More specifically, they lack the skills to
anticipate and deal with staff resistance to change. These skills include visioning, people
management skills, communication skills, ethical practice, fostering teamwork, self-awareness,
emotional intelligence, and cross-cultural awareness. On the part of employees, the major
problem is that a few of them (26-36%) have a clear understanding of the company’s mission,
vision, values, and strategic goals. Most importantly, the fact that of the 140 employees invited to
participate in the survey that only 40 (or less than 30%) responded indicates trust issues in the
organization.
Justification for change management approach
The recommended change management model resolves these problem areas by equipping
managers with the skills they need to succeed at each of the eight steps. For example, in the
“Getting the vision right” step, the authors stress to managers the importance of developing a
compelling vision that appeals to everyone in the organization and then communicating it clearly

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and consistently. “Building the guiding team” shows managers how they can foster teamwork by
leading by example. “Communicating for buy-in” demonstrates how managers can use personal,
genuine, and “hearty” communications to discover and address what motivates people to resist
change. Meanwhile, the fact that a Harvard scholar developed the model makes it particularly
suited to the U.S. branch.

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References

Kotter, J. P., & Cohen, D. S. (2012). The heart of change: Real-life stories of how people change
their organizations. Boston: Harvard Business Press.
Kotter, J. P., Chan Kim, W., & Mauborgne, R. A. (2011). HBR’s 10 must reads on change
management. Boston: Harvard Business Press.
Teczke, M., Bespayeva, R., & Bugubayeva, R. (2017). Approaches and models for change
management. Jagiellonian Journal of Management, 3(3), 195-208.

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Appendix

[Note: The below table is optional. For real-world, summarizing your comparison using a
table can help you improve your analysis while improving your communication. Delete the
Appendix section if you decide to not use the table]
TABLE 1: Comparison of change management models.

Description Benefits Limitations

Lewin
Kotter
ADKAR