Critically discuss the leadership and change management theories Essay

Critically discuss the leadership and change management theories within the case study - Essay Example Biogen Idec is a global biotechnology company that has transformed greatly in the past 25 years to become one of the largest companies in the world. Through mergers with other companies, it has developed into a big company with presence in most parts of Europe and America. Currently, the company is on the verge of changing its operations in order to improve the performance of the company. Managing change is an important aspect of the organization in order for them to remain competitive by responding the market needs. The concept of organizational change and leadership management require a lot of concern since any mistake may lead to big losses (Styhre, 2002; Charlton & Andrew, 2004). Organizations operate in increasing competitive and chaotic global business environment and thus it should form a major focus of the business management. This is because there is enough evidence that about 70% of organizational changes fail to yield enough fruits as projected by the management (Burnes & Jackson, 2011). A properly structured organizational change should thus take full care of content, people, and process since they are the determinants of success or failure of such an initiative (Myungweon, 2011). Leaders are the formulators and implements of any organizational change; hence, they should be responsible for the success or failure of such initiatives (Aaron & Elizabeth, 2012). Leaders are also important to the change process since they create and develop an acceptance culture of change in the organization and develop the ability to achieve such as change as projected by the company (Northouse, 2012). Change Models Kotters 8 Steps The use of Kotters method is evident in the change undertaken by Biogen Idec Inc since they began their initial step of organizational change by conducting research and creating urgency for change. In this method, organization change can be effectively managed using a dynamic 8-step approach that includes increased urgency, building grid team s, get the right vision, communicate for a buy in, enable action, create a short term win, don’t let up, make it stick. The steps are further divided into three phases whereby the first phase is creating a climate change; the second phase is engaging and enabling the whole organization while the last step entails implementing and sustaining the change (Hayes, 2010). Creating urgency This is the first step of Kotters change model whereby he argues that creating urgency enables the members know what they really want and develop a sense of urgency around the need for change. In the case of Biogen Inc, the headquarters in Paris was responsible for all finance, legal, Human resources, and commercial activities of the organization, making the decisions slow and bureaucratic. The urgency created by the management is upon realization that this type of organizational structure is slowing decision making and at times leading to erroneous decisions. They thus needed a structural model t hat can quicken decision making of the managerial functions to avoid several errors that may inhibit the development of the company. Creating urgency helps spark the initial motivation of the workers so that they respond by getting things moving in the direction of change. It involves showing people the poor performance of the organization and increased competition that threatens the existence of the company. Kotter (2012) argues that about three quarters of the organization management needs to support the change initiative for it to be successful hence, the need for creating urgency must be very strong. Form a powerful coalition After the worker have seen the need for change, they need to work together to achieve these desired changes. This step involves convincing people that change is necessary and it encompasses strong governance and sustenance from individuals within the organization. In order to influence the process of change within the organi