Change Management has become a specialized field of management science. There are many scholars who have been writing on this subject to help out practitioner to implement change. There are many known and famous books but here is the list of top ten books on change management:
1. Leading Change
Author: John. P Kotter
Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
Published in: 1996
Pages: 208
Professor John P. Kotter is widely known as authority on change management. “Leading Change” is his famous book published in 2012 and it is a complete guide book focusing the subject change management. In this book, Professor Kotter explained his 8-step process of managing change.
This book revolves around 8-steps of change management model and and studying change management is incomplete without knowing this model. With practical tools and change experience of more than 100 organizations, this book is one of the finest resource on change management. Besides, students of change management this book is a must read for all practitioners and managers who are involved in leading change at their organizations.
2. Making Sense of Change Management
Author: Esther Cameron and Mike Green
Publisher: Kogan Page
Published in: 2016
Pages: 280
Esther Cameron is a founding director of Integral Change Consulting Ltd and her specialization is complex organizational change. The co-author of this book is Mike Green who is Director of Transitional Space Ltd and a visiting fellow at Henley Business School where he teaches leadership and change.Published in 2016, this book is a comprehensive guide of change management. This book presents all model and theories of change management with application in real business world and how complex change is implemented at organizational level. This book is useful for students and practitioners alike.
3. Our Iceberg is Melting
Author: John P. Kotter
Publisher: St. Martain’s Press
Published in: 2006
Pages: 147
Through an interesting fable of penguins and seagulls, Professor John P. Kotter uses storytelling technique to inform readers about change and what does it take to carry out a change. The fable is about a group of penguins and seagulls whose iceberg is melting and they are thinking about what actions they should take to find a peaceful way out and adjust to environmental changes. Their solutions are actual the lesson for managing any change whether it is at a personal business level or it is about a transition or merger of a giant corporate organization.
4. The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations
Author: John P. Kotter and Dan S. Cohen
Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
Published in: 2002
Page: 208
Kotter’s this book is actually a follow up to his first book “Leading Change” but this book primarily focusses on people side of change. He argues that it is not about structure or operations of an organization but it is in fact people’s attitude towards change which is hard part to deal with in whole journey of change management. Based on real life stories this book also offers in-depth analysis of success and failures of different change initiatives at over 100 organizations.Written in a simple and persuasive language this book is a must read for all aspirants of change management.
5. ADKAR: A Model for Change in Business, and Government and our Community
Author: Jeffery M. Hiatt
Publisher: Prosci Learning Center Publications
Published in: 2006
Pages: 146
With research on 2600 organizations and spending 14 years on understanding the dynamics of change, ADKAR helps readers understand why some change initiatives are successful and some bound to fail. This model of change management covers all important aspects of change. ADKAR stands for Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement and these are the elements which are required for a change process. Since this model is highly applicable to many situations so this book is widely recommended as a reference book for students and practitioner alike.
6. The Theory and Practice of Change Management
Author: John Hayes
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
Published in: 2002
Pages: 401
This is one of bestseller text book on change management. It covers all the key theories and model of change management at organizational level. The author explains all the key terms, provides with summary of relevant research and divides chapters for use of students of change management. This book also contains tools and learning exercises which enable students to strengthen their understanding on the subject.
7. Change Management: The People Side of Change
Author: John Hayes Jeffrey M. Hiatt, Timothy J. Crease
Publisher: Prosci Research
Published in: 2003
Pages: 148
The book explains entire process of change management and also describes the difference between individual and organisational change management. There’s a useful analysis of why people resist change and interesting case studies of organizations experiences with implementing change. This book is an easy to read but it has thought provoking questions which adds to its value.
8. Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change
Author: William Bridges and Susan Bridges
Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books
Published in: 2003
Pages: 176
This book is a good resource for managers who are leading the change at their workplace or organization. This book essentially explains change through presenting model commonly known as Bridges Transitional Model. The author explains the transition by citing real examples of managing change and transition at work place. If a manager is handling layoffs and closures, then this is like a manual because it deals with this sort of transition in such a detail and offers great insights which makes it a valuable resource.
9. HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Change Management
Author: Harvard Business Review
Publisher: Harvard Business Review
Published in: 2011
Pages: 224
This is a collection of most powerful and convincing articles written by experts which were published in HBR. Each article includes timeless advice that is relevant regardless of an ever-changing business environment. Its cover rightly claims that that if you read nothing else on change management, read these 10 articles.
10. Managing Change, Creativity and Innovation
Author: Constantine Andriopoulos and Patrick M.B. Dawson
Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd
Published in: 2009
Pages: 374
This book presents a fine balance between theoretical and practical side of change management. It explains in detail the process of change and also how innovation and creativity is managed to smoothly experience change. Many useful insights are available in this book which are helpful for leaders and managers of change.
Courtesy: Images of all the books are taken from: amazon.co.uk
