Coalition Enabled Change: A Conceptual Extension of Kotter's Change Model from The Indonesia Seaweed Initiative

Abstract

Indonesia’s seaweed industry faces fragmented governance, limited access to financing, low farmer incomes, and underutilized cultivation areas, creating significant challenges to its transformation within the national blue economy agenda. This study aimed to reinterpret the role of the guiding coalition in Kotter’s change model and develop the concept of Coalition-Enabled Change through an examination of the Indonesia Seaweed Initiative. A conceptual research approach combining theory adaptation and theory building was employed alongside qualitative analysis of two documents: the initiative’s memorandum of understanding and APINDO’s Sustainable Seaweed Value Chain Proof of Concept. The analysis mapped actor roles, examined dimensions of power, expertise, credibility, and leadership, and synthesized documentary evidence with relevant theoretical perspectives. The findings indicated complementary capacities among coalition members. APINDO contributed industrial mobilization and leadership capabilities; Conservation International and Konservasi Indonesia provided conservation expertise and institutional credibility; and Standard Chartered contributed financial expertise and financing capacity. These complementary configurations suggest that coalitions can facilitate interconnected change processes through shared legitimacy, resource complementarity, distributed leadership, and institutional coordination. The analysis reconceptualizes the guiding coalition as institutional infrastructure that supports ecosystem-level transformation rather than merely as a discrete stage within a linear change process. The study concludes that Coalition-Enabled Change provides a conceptual extension of Kotter’s framework for understanding cross-organizational transformation. However, its explanatory value requires further empirical validation through comparative and longitudinal studies examining implementation across diverse coalition structures and institutional contexts.