Leading Change: Identifying Why Business Transformation Efforts Fail

This essay examines the reasons why many business transformation efforts fail to achieve their objectives. It references Kotter's work on leading change, highlighting errors such as allowing too much complacency, failing to create a powerful guiding coalition, underestimating the power of vision, inadequate communication, allowing obstacles to block the new vision, failing to create short-term wins, declaring victory too soon, and neglecting to anchor changes firmly in the corporate culture. The essay uses examples, including a church parish setting and General Motors' crisis, to illustrate these points. It emphasizes the importance of establishing a sense of urgency, forming a strong coalition, developing a clear vision, communicating effectively, removing obstacles, creating short-term wins, and embedding changes in the organizational culture to ensure successful and sustainable transformation.

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Leading Change: Why transformation efforts fail
Introduction
The rapid changes in the fundamental structures that support businesses create the need for
frequent business transformations in order to keep up or lead the market. Many businesses often
approach transformation with a lot of enthusiasm and end up being greatly disappointed when
their efforts do not fully materialize into their expected results. As indicated in Kotter, (2012, pg.
3-4), major change efforts have enabled some organizations adapt significantly to changing
conditions, have enhanced other companies’ the competitive standing, and have further
positioned some for a far better future. For a successful transformation, the organization should
adopt the strategic business transformation approach. Nair explains that strategic business
transformation entails realizing, responding to and navigating through a major shift in market
need, (Nair, 2011. Preface). This would mean developing a business design that is able to
respond to and withstand the numerous market transformations thus attaining and keeping the
business market leading position. However, making strategic business transformation is not easy,
and businesses often fail in their transformation efforts. This paper identifies and discusses the
major reasons and causes of failure in transformation efforts of businesses.

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According to Kotter (2012. Pg. 4-15), some of the most significant errors associated with
transformation efforts failure include; too much complacency allowance, failure to create a
sufficiently powerful guiding coalition, underestimating the power of vision, inadequate
communication of the vision, allowing obstacles to block the new vision, failure to create short-
term wins, declaration of victory too soon, and neglecting to anchor changes firmly in the
corporate culture.
a. Allowing too much complacency
This refers to the transformation managers’ proceeding with the transformation process and
failing to create a high sense of transformation urgency enough to enable fellow managers and
employees to take or accept change actions. Rushing on the transformation process without
establishing a high sense of urgency in managers and employees always lead to transformations
failing to achieve their objectives, due to lack of effective communications. Sufficient urgency
needs to be established at the beginning of business transformation. This failure to create enough
urgency at the beginning of the business transformation could be attributed to overestimating the
amount of change to be forced on an organization and underestimating the how difficult it is to
drive people out of their normal working routines to facilitate the transformation, as seen in
Remme, (2008. Pg. 135)
Most of the organizations today are associated with too high levels of complacency exhibited by
high levels of past success, no visible crises, inadequate standards of performance, insufficient
feedback from external constituencies and failure to recognize the potentially undesirable effects
of the existing organizational problems, (Gilardoni, 2018. Pg. 292). Remme further elaborates
that without a sense of urgency; there will be no extra effort for change by people and they will

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resist change initiatives from above. To elaborate on these causes, an example from a church
parish setting could be used. In a case where the parish needs to undertake steps to change parish
life. The parish priest could give an approval for a group to form and implement changes to
parish life, but he fails to give his commitment to the changes put forward. According to Reed,
(2018. Pg 393), this group could quickly find themselves isolated and battling complacency and
a lack of any urgency from the leader of the organization. Moreover, the case of the fact that
General Motors enjoyed great returns and huge success since its formation made it lack a
powerful enough the sense of urgency to be able to sense the need to work on their vision
towards matching the new conditions and meet the stiff competition in the market. This led to
its’ falling into crisis in 2008/2009.
b. Lack of sufficiently powerful guiding coalition
This entails failing to establish a strong and effective coalition in the form of transformation
committee that may constitute of the senior management, departmental heads, chain or line
managers as well as designated employees that would strongly advocate for and work towards
achieving the successful transformation desired. Kotter, (2012. Pg 6) highlights that most
successful transformation cases are characterized by powerful coalition in terms of formal titles,
information and expertise, reputations and relationships, and the capacity for leadership. An
individual alone does not have all the necessary assets and capabilities to create the required
transformation in the organization, thus the need for a coalition. For instance, in the church
parish setting case where the parish priest gives approval for a group to implement changes to
parish life, lack of sufficiently powerful guiding coalition could be seen when the priest himself
is passionate about making changes to parish life but he is unable to form a sufficiently expert
and respected group with whom to work. This could be seen in the formation of well-meaning

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parish committees composed of ill-prepared and inexperienced committee members, resulting in
the failure of any change to parish life, (Reed, 2018. Pg 393).
Therefore, as explained by Gilardoni, successful transformations require all the people
concerned, ranging from the president or the general manager, the department heads, to the other
employees involved to come together and develop a shared commitment in order to improve
performance, along with the teamwork needed to realize that commitment, (Gilardoni, 2018. Pg
292).
c. Failing to Recognize the Power of Vision
Vision assists in directing, aligning as well as inspiring actions on the part of many people.
Kotter explains that inappropriate vision may lead to a transformation effort turning into
unworthy projects that are confusing, incompatible and time-consuming, taking the wiling to
progress at all, (Kotter, 2012. Pg 8). In many failed transformations plans and programs are often
found playing the role of vision. Moreover, a vision guides decision making of the managers and
the employees; thus easy decision making and avoiding conflict that may result from even the
smallest decisions, with the potential to sap energy and destroy morale. The interests of the
different stakeholders in the transformation process are united and brought together through the
set vision. For instance, when the parish priest gives approval for a group to implement change to
parish life, it would only be successful if the group first sets out the vision for their purpose. This
vision would lead to setting direction towards the activities to implement the change, and the
other church members and parishioners accepting the change thus its success. This would further
help avoid the unending debates that may have resulted from different opinions towards the
group, its composition, and agenda. As viewed in Reed, (2018. Pg 393), the transformation of an

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organization fails when the power of vision is underestimated. Moreover, a sense of urgency and
creation of power guiding collation will not be sufficient if there is not a sensible vision guiding
change. Therefore, without a clear vision, it would be difficult to develop the strategies for
achieving the vision, which drives the change, (Kotter & Gabarro, 2015. Pg 23). Thus the
company’s vision, as well as the vision for the transformation, should never be ignored when
undertaking the transformation process.
d. Under-communicating the vision
People will only make sacrifices if they perceive the transformation to be possible.
Communication is important towards ensuring that the employees’ opinions are captured in the
vision. Further communication ensures faster decision-making process and provides support for
the transformation process and efforts, (Kotter, 2012. Pg 10)
To create a powerful vision that can drive transformation, as viewed in Bongiorno et al., (2018.
Pg 218), it must be properly communicated, using all possible available communication
channels. Therefore, a credible communication plan should be established to enable employees
understand the reasons for considering taking sacrifices and committing to change. In the case of
a change in parish life, proper communication between the parish priest and the transformation
group members is important towards attaining success. Further, communication between the
formed group and the other church members would also ensure that the change vision is well
understood and therefore supported. Furthermore, the case of General Motors in most cases
relying on a vision provided by managers and not a leader capable of showing people how
changes can transform the whole company community also reflected under-communication of
vision.

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e. Allowing obstacles to block the new vision
Correct communication of the vision alone is not enough to guarantee the desired results.
According to Cobb, (2015. Pg. 239), new initiatives often fail too early when employees, even
after embracing a new vision, feel disempowered by huge obstacles in their processes. Therefore,
removing the hindrances to the realization of the new vision is mandatory if success is to be
attained. These barriers may include organizational structures, managers failing to commit to
change, compensation and appraisal systems, supervisors refusing to adapt to new circumstances
and making demands that are inconsistent with the transformation and unsuitable or fixed
organizational plans that do not allow for change, (Bongiorno et al., 2018. Pg. 218-2019). Such
activities as removing the obstacles, changing systems or structures that hinder the change vision
and encouraging risk taking ideas, activities and actions, (Kotter and Gabarro, 2015. Pg 15) is
necessary when dealing with obstacles to change vision. For instance, in the case where the
obstacle is organizational structure, an organization’s efforts towards increasing its productivity
or improving customer service may be undermined by narrow job categories. Kotter further
elaborates that compensation or performance appraisal systems can put people in dilemma of
choosing between the new vision and their self-interests, (Kotter, 2012. Pg 11).
f. Failing to Create short-term wins
Transformation processes always take long times. Most people will make sacrifice on a long
process unless they see results of their efforts within a short time, for example, within six to
eighteen months, that the journey is producing expected results,” (Cobb, 2015. Pg 239).
Momentum should be maintained throughout the whole process, by the employees and all the
concerned in the organization undergoing a transformation, so as to enhance success. Short term

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goals are met and celebrated to help reduce the risk of losing momentum due to the complex and
lengthy durations associated with such transformations as business restructuring or changing
strategies, (Cobb, 2015. Pg 239).
Momentum is maintained by allowing for periodic celebration of results in the organization. In
addition, accomplishment of short-term and intermediate goals can be strongly motivate people
leading to more success and more positive change, as elaborated in Leonard et al., (2007. Pg 49).
This may call for step by step transformation process with every step entailing short-term goals
that are celebrated upon completion or attainment. In addition, every step should be followed
systematically according to their laid down orders. By this, the chance of failure would be
reduced significantly by preventing many employees from giving up in the process or joining the
resistance against the change.
g. Declaring victory too soon
There is always a temptation among people to declare victory in major change effort after only a
few years of hard work. A celebration of the short term should be done carefully so as to avoid
any implication or suggestion that the work is complete, lest people’s attention or interest get
drawn away, and it becomes difficult to create momentum to complete the work after the short
wins celebrations. In addition, victory should only be declared after the changes sink down
deeply into the organizational culture, (Cobb, 2015. Pg 239). This can take three to ten years for
an entire organization, as further suggested by Cobb. Declaring victory too soon leads to
incomplete transformations which are unsustainable and likely to return to the original
organization situation before the change, thus leading to wastage of organizational time and
resources.

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h. Failing to Anchor changes firmly in the corporate culture
Change only holds for longer periods when they become the ways of doing things in the
organization. As viewed in Cobb, (2015. Pg 240), new behaviors are always subject to
degradation as soon as the pressure associated with the change efforts are eliminated unless they
are rooted in social norms and shared values. This could be done through such activities as
creation of better performance in terms of customer and productivity oriented behavior, better
leadership and more effective management; enhancing the connections between new behaviors
and organizational success; and establishing means to ensure leadership development and
succession, (Rudd, 2010. Pg 56). These activities vary depending on the transformation types
undertaken by the respective organizations. As indicated on the website
(www.linkedin.com/pulse/organizational-change-emergency-calls-inside-general-motors-alem).
General Motors committed a mistake of not reshaping the change to be transformed to the next
generations even though they tried to fix their errors after 2009.
Conclusion
Organizational transformation is not an easy task. It involves step by step activities that are
complex and time-consuming. Transformation efforts are not only the duties of senior
management but also a coordinated momentum of all other level managers and employees within
the organization. Observation of all of the errors or mistakes highlighted above could help reduce
failures of transformation efforts.

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Work cited
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