The Secret Behind Successful Corporate Transformations
Only about a fifth of corporate transformations succeed, and how companies treat and engage employees strongly shapes the outcome.
Summary
Argenti, Berman, Calsbeek and Whitehouse test Kotter's long-cited claim that 70% of transformations fail. Their meta-analysis of financial performance and corporate reputation finds that only 22% of companies successfully transformed, meaning failure is even more common than believed. The research identifies employee treatment and engagement as a key differentiator between success and failure. The authors recommend that leaders make how they
Editor's opinion
A real meta-analytic correction to Kotter's widely-cited but unsubstantiated 70%-failure claim, with a genuine success driver (employee engagement) identified.
Key concepts
Transformation success rate · Employee engagement · Reputation and financial performance