The case for change: revolutionary vs.
continuous
Tuesday, January 22 through Thursday, January 24
1. Take notes on Tuesday's lecture - "Case for revolutionary
change." Before Tuesday's class, read the following:
- Suzy Wetlaufer, "The business case against revolution: an
interview with Nestle's Peter Brabeck," Harvard Business Review,
February 2001, pp. 113-119 (on electronic reserve)
This article will give you ideas for challenging some of the material
presented in Tuesday's lecture. Also, be prepared to answer the following
questions:
- How is technology affecting business' strategies for survival?
- When is revolutionary change necessary?
- What types of corporations are less likely to be driven by rapidly
changing technology?
- When is incremental change potentially a better solution?
- According to the CIO, Peter Brabeck, what are some of Nestle's
"untouchables" or aspects of the company that should not be
changed?
- What type of leadership goes with Nestle's mindset of continuous
improvement?
- How does Nestle institutionalize the mindset of continuous improvement?
- What is the biggest barrier to this process?
2 Read John P. Kotter's first two chapters in Leading Change
by Thursday. This will introduce you to the framework that we will using
through this semester. Be prepared to answer the following questions on
Thursday:
- Why do efforts at transformational change often fail?
- What are the economic and social forces driving the need for change in
organizations?
- What are the eight stages in Kotter's change process?
- Why is this particular sequence of steps important?
- What are the different roles played by managers versus leaders in change
initiatives?
- What are the sources of organizational complacency?
- How might this complacency be overcome?
last revised by dhostet@siue.edu
December 9, 2001