What is the first important step in the Kotter's Organizational Change Management (OCM) model?

The first step in John Kotter's 8-Step Change Model is to "Create a Sense of Urgency." This foundational step involves examining market and competitive realities and identifying and discussing crises, potential crises, or major opportunities. The goal is to get people out of their comfort zones and motivate them to support the change initiative. Without a sense of urgency, it is difficult to gain the cooperation and momentum needed for a successful transformation, as complacency can be a significant barrier. This step ensures that the need for change is widely understood and felt throughout the organization.

A. Build a guiding coalition: This is the second step in Kotter's model, which occurs after a sense of urgency has been established.
C. Generate short-term wins: This is the sixth step, designed to build momentum and demonstrate the viability of the change initiative.
D. Institute change: This is the final step (Step 8), also known as "Anchor New Approaches in the Culture," which makes the change permanent.

1. Kotter, J. P. (1995). Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail. Harvard Business Review, 73(2), 59–67. (The 8-step model is outlined on pages 60-61, with "Establishing a Sense of Urgency" listed as Step 1).

2. MIT Sloan School of Management. (2016). Leading Organizational Change. Course 15.311, Lecture Notes. The courseware outlines Kotter's 8-Step model, explicitly identifying "Create Urgency" as the initial and critical first step for any change initiative.

3. Appelbaum, S. H., Habashy, S., Malo, J. L., & Shafiq, H. (2012). Back to the future: revisiting Kotter's 8-step model of change. Journal of Management Development, 31(8), 764-782. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621711211253231 (Table I on page 767 clearly lists "Establish a sense of urgency" as the first step).