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John Kotter: A Pragmatic Observer of Managers’ Life Worlds

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The Palgrave Handbook of Organizational Change Thinkers

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Abstract

Studies of organizational change and leadership often include, if not begin with, the works of John Kotter, Ph.D., professor emeritus of Harvard Business School. Kotter focuses almost exclusively on management practitioners, rather than scholars, and uses parables, stories, and case studies to teach the learnings he has gained through observing what successful managers actually do, rather than what they should do. Kotter’s Harvard Business Review article, Leading Change, Why Transformation Efforts Fail (1995), is widely considered to be a seminal work and precursor of the change management domain. The eight mistakes which Kotter postulated came to be known as the eight-step model for implementing organizational changes. Kotter’s large body of work on the eight-steps is bookended by his work differentiating management and leadership. Kotter argues managers rely on hierarchy to produce consistency and order, whereas leaders utilize networks of relationships to produce change. In summary, those readers who are interested in pursuing excellence, rather than convention, and in learning from stories and real-world examples, rather than theories, may benefit most from Kotter’s work.

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References

John Kotter Articles

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Further Reading

    John Kotter Case Studies

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    • Kotter, John P., and Andrew P. Burtis. Jack Thomas. Harvard Business School Case 494-062, November 1993. (Revised June 2007).

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    • Kotter, John P., and Andrew P. Burtis. Gloria Hilliard Mayfield at Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc. Harvard Business School Case 494-016, December 1993. (Revised June 1994).

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    John Kotter Articles

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    • Kotter, J. P. (1973). The psychological contract: Managing the joining-up process. California Management Review, 15(3), 91–99.

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    • Kotter, J. P.. (1977). Power, dependence, and effective management. Harvard Business Review, 55(4), 125.

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    • Kotter, J. P.. (1979). Managing external dependence. Academy of Management Review, 4(1), 87–92.

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    • Kotter, J. P. (2001). What leaders really do. Harvard Business Review, 79(11), 85–97.

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    • Kotter, J. P. (2012). How the most innovative companies capitalize on today’s rapid-fire strategic challenges-and still make their numbers. Harvard Business Review, 90(11), 43–58.

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    • Kotter, J. P. (2014a). To create healthy urgency, focus on a big opportunity. Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 2–4.

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    • Kotter, J. P. (2014b). Forget the strategy PowerPoint. Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 2–4.

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    • Kotter, J. P., & Cohen, D. S.. (2002). Creative ways to empower action to change the organization: Cases in point. Journal of Organizational Excellence, 22(1), 73–82. https://doi.org/10.1002/npr.10055

    • Sonnenfeld, J., & Kotter, J. P. (1982). The maturation of career theory. Human Relations, 35(1), 19–46.

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    John Kotter Books

    • Kotter, J. P. (1978). Organizational dynamics. Saddle River, NJ: FT Press.

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    • Kotter, J.P. (1979). Power in Management. NewYork: Amacom.

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    • Kotter, J. P. (1988). The leadership factor. New York: Free press. London: Collier Macmillan.

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    • Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading change. Boston: Harvard Business Press.

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    • Kotter, J. P. (1999). John P. Kotter on what leaders really do. Boston: Harvard Business Press.

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    • Kotter, J. P. (1985). Power and influence. New York: Free Press.

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    Author information

    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Fielding Graduate University, 2020 De la Vina Street, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

      Brett Clay

    2. Change Leadership Group, LLC, 14150 NE 20th St, Suite F1-144, Bellevue, WA, 98007, USA

      Brett Clay

    Authors
    1. Brett Clay
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    Correspondence to Brett Clay .

    Editor information

    Editors and Affiliations

    1. College of Education and Human Development, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, USA

      David B. Szabla

    2. Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

      William A. Pasmore

    3. The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

      Mary A. Barnes

    4. Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

      Asha N. Gipson

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    Clay, B. (2017). John Kotter: A Pragmatic Observer of Managers’ Life Worlds. In: Szabla, D.B., Pasmore, W.A., Barnes, M.A., Gipson, A.N. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Organizational Change Thinkers. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52878-6_47

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