Foundational Change Models - Lewin and Kotter

The video for 5CO01 Assessment Criterion 2.3 centres on two foundational frameworks that have shaped how organisations think about planned change: Kurt Lewin's three-step model, developed in the 1940s, and John Kotter's eight-stage model, published in 1996. Both are treated as core theoretical reference points for understanding structured, deliberate approaches to managing organisational change, and the video examines how each model accounts for the human and cultural dimensions of transformation alongside its procedural steps.

Lewin's model is covered through its three named stages — unfreezing, changing, and refreezing — with attention to the psychological and behavioural dynamics that each stage involves, including resistance, instability during transition, and the challenge of embedding new practices durably. Kotter's model receives detailed treatment across all eight stages, from creating a sense of urgency and building a guiding coalition through to generating short-term wins, sustaining acceleration, and institutionalising change within organisational culture. The video also addresses a critical perspective on Lewin's refreezing concept in relation to environments of continuous change.

Both models are considered together in terms of their shared assumptions about planned and linear change, which situates them within the broader AC 2.3 content on proactive and planned approaches as distinct from emergent or reactive ones. The video draws a direct comparison between Kotter's final stage and Lewin's refreezing principle, highlighting where the two frameworks converge on the problem of long-term sustainability. Reasons why change initiatives fail to achieve their stated objectives run as a connecting thread throughout, grounding both models in practical organisational reality rather than abstract theory.