Aims

Faced with unprecedented levels of uncertainty and ambiguity, organizations need to be able to adapt to changes in their business environment not only to remain competitive but also to survive.

In recent decades, globalisation, the emergence of new technologies, markets and competitors, and the consequences of global pandemics, recessions and financial crises, have all meant that managing change is a norm, rather than the exception. Public and not-for-profit organizations are also experiencing increasingly turbulent environments and major shifts in the services and service-users they deal with.

Despite the importance of organisational change, it is widely recognised that two-thirds of organisational change efforts fail. Change management is therefore a core skill needed by all managers.

Outline Of Syllabus

The syllabus will cover areas such as
• Types and causes of change
• The psychology of change
• Implementing change
• Changing organizational cultures
• Managing resistance, power and politics during change
• Being a change leader

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures supplement student reading to provide the theoretical and practical knowledge required to understand and analyse the nature of organisational change and approaches to its management.

Seminars enable students to work in small groups to learn from case studies of organisational change, developing their understanding of the use of academic studies of change to develop theory and also the implications of theory for change practitioners.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Lectures, readings and seminar class discussions are designed to help students develop the understanding and analytical skills needed to complete the assessment. The assignment assesses the student's ability to demonstrate their understanding of the theory of organisational change and change management and its implications for change management practice.

Formative feedback takes place during seminars through feedback from seminar tutors on analysis of case studies of change, together with learning from the discussion within small groups and observing other groups present their case study analyses. The seminar activities mirror the module assessment (case study analysis).