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IB822-10 Leading and Managing Change

Department
Warwick Business School
Level
Taught Postgraduate Level
Module leader
Jose Bento da Silva
Credit value
10
Module duration
12 weeks
Assessment
100% coursework
Study location
Distance or Online Delivery

Introductory description

This module aims to introduce students to an interdisciplinary, cross-national and historically informed understanding of the idea of change and its significance for organisations in the contemporary period.

Module web page

Module aims

This module aims to introduce students to an interdisciplinary, cross-national and historically informed understanding of the idea of change and its significance for organisations in the contemporary period. Students will be introduced to multiple perspectives, models and maps for understanding the nature of organisational change and how it is managed.

The module will develop students’ skills in understanding how the management of organisational change is a collective sense making process involving the development of shared cultures and discourse carried through technological intermediaries. It will also introduce students to the dilemmas faced by managers in implementing change.

The module seeks to enable students to critically examine models of change and the development of the learning organisation.

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Section 1: Understanding Change: concepts and perspectives

The meaning of change: interdisciplinary perspectives on identifying, controlling and assessing the impact of change
Organisations in an age of uncertainty and change? Historical comparisons and contemporary debates
Section 2: Organisational change: frameworks and models

Images and approaches to managing change
Identifying and diagnosing change
Models for managing change: issues of process, organisation and communication
Section 3: Understanding Change processes: key issues and debates

Power, Politics and Resistance in the management of change
The use of language, discourse and culture in the management of change
Senior managers and the leadership of change: pressures and processes
Middle managers in the change process
The Change Revolution / Change Fatigue: The dynamics of continuous change in the public and private sectors and its impact

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

  • Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the major perspectives for analysing the idea of change and how it is relevant to contemporary organisations.
  • Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the way in which senior managers lead change initiatives and the institutional constraints under which they work
  • Critically analyse how managers exercise power and engage in politics to influence other employees in order to achieve outcomes.
  • Identify and evaluate the distinctive tensions faced by middle managers in change processes and recognise ways of overcoming these problems, including issues of language, culture and discourse
  • Identify and evaluate ways in which the underlying assumptions of the change discourse create their own self-sustaining dynamic and are a force for isomorphic processes across different types of organisation initiatives and the institutional constraints under which they work.
  • Critically assess a variety of perspectives on the management of organisational change.
  • Recognise and critically engage with assumptions underpinning the assumptions of the management of organisational change.

Indicative reading list

The set textbook for this module is:

Myers, P.; Hulks, S. and Wiggins, L. (2012)
Organisational Change: Perspectives on Theory and Practice
Oxford: OUP Oxford

Further reading
Argyris, C. (2000)
Flawed Advice and the Management Trap
Oxford: Oxford University Press

Ashford, S.J. and Detert, J. (2015)
'Get the boss to buy in'
Harvard Business Review, p3, 1/2, pp, 72-9

Balogun, J. and Hope Hailey, V. (1999)
Exploring Strategic Change
London: Prentice Hall

Barton, M.A. and Sutcliffe, K.M. (2010)
'Learning when to stop momentum'
MIT Sloan Management Review, 51, 3, pp. 69-76

Bartunek, J.; Balogun, J. and Do. B. (2011) 'Considering planned change anew: stretching large group interventions strategically, emotionally and meaningfully'

Academy of Management Annals, 5, 1, pp. 1-52

Brown, S.L. and Eisenhardt, K.M. (1998)
Competing on the Edge
Harvard, MA: Harvard Business School Press

Buchanan, D. and Badham, R. (1999)
Power, Politics and Organizational Change
London: Sage

Dent, E.B. and Goldberg, S.G. (1999) 'Challenging resistance to change'

The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 35, 1, pp. 25-41

Kotter, J. and Cohen, D.S. (2002)
The Heart of Change
Harvard, MA: Harvard Business School Press

Kotter, J. P. (2012)
Leading Change
Boston: Harvard Business Review Press

Palmer, I;, Dunford, R. and Buchanan, D.A. (2017)
Managing organizational change: A multiple perspectives approach
McGraw Hill

Rodgers, C. (2007) Informal Coalitions: Mastering the Hidden Dynamics of Organizational Change

Palgrave Macmillan

Senge, P. et al. (2011)
The Dance of Change: The Challenges of Sustaining Momentum in Learning Organizations
Hachette UK

Stouten, J.; Rousseau, D.M. and de Cremer, D. (2018)
'Successful organizational change: Integrating the management practice and scholarly literatures'
Academy of Management Annals, 12, 2, pp. 752-88

Todnem By, R. (2005)
'Organizational change management: A critical review'
Journal of Change Management, 5, 4, pp. 369-80

Raelin, J.D. and Cataldo, C.G. (2011)
'Whither middle management? Empowering interface and the failure of organizational change'
Journal of Change Management, 11, 4, pp. 481-507

Subject specific skills

Analyse and synthesise organisational change, its problems and dilemmas
Diagnose change pressures and identify and evaluate appropriate management responses
Identify and evaluate resistances to change.

Transferable skills

Demonstrate developed academic communication skills.

Study time

Type Required
Online learning (scheduled sessions) 10 sessions of 1 hour (17%)
Online learning (independent) 20 sessions of 1 hour (34%)
Private study 28 hours (48%)
Total 58 hours

Private study description

Private Study to include preparation for lectures. Session length may vary from the above.

Costs

No further costs have been identified for this module.

You do not need to pass all assessment components to pass the module.

Assessment group A5
Weighting Study time Eligible for self-certification
Assessment component
Written Assignment (2500 words) 100% 42 hours Yes (extension)
Reassessment component is the same
Feedback on assessment

Assessments are graded using standard University Postgraduate Marking Criteria and written feedback is provided. Feedback for individual essays includes comments on a marksheet.

Courses

This module is Optional for:

  • TIBS-N1Q1 Postgraduate Business Administration (Executive) London
    • Year 1 of N1Q1 Business Administration (Executive) London
    • Year 3 of N1Q1 Business Administration (Executive) London
  • Year 1 of TIBS-N1Q4 Postgraduate Business Administration (Executive) London
  • Year 1 of TIBS-N1PW Postgraduate Taught Business Administration (Distance Learning)
  • TIBS-N1Q2 Postgraduate Taught Business Administration (Distance Learning)
    • Year 1 of N1Q2 Business Administration (Distance Learning)
    • Year 2 of N1Q2 Business Administration (Distance Learning)
  • Year 1 of TIBS-N1P9 Postgraduate Taught Business Administration (Executive)
  • Year 1 of TIBS-N1Q3 Postgraduate Taught Business Administration (Executive)