Introductory description

Digital Leadership and Change prepares students to lead digital transformation in complex, uncertain and human organisations. The module explores why digital initiatives succeed or fail, how leaders mobilise people and knowledge across boundaries, and how responsible digital change can be designed, implemented and sustained. Through cases, role play, group activities and reflective leadership practice, students develop the judgement, language and tools needed to lead digital change in contemporary organisations.

Module web page

Module aims

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.

The module aims to develop students’ ability to lead digital change in complex organisational settings. It introduces digital innovation as a socio-technical process in which technologies, people, knowledge and institutional contexts interact. Students will critically engage with theories of digital innovation, knowledge management, organisational change and leadership, applying these perspectives to contemporary cases of digital innovation across products, services, processes and business models. The module will also allow students to explore their leadership and decision-making style in relation to managing the complexity and emergence of digital innovation. Core module themes include:

Digital transformation as socio-technical change
Leadership, power and organisational resistance
Knowledge sharing, collaboration and boundary-spanning
Design thinking and human-centred digital change
Decision-making under uncertainty
Responsible, inclusive and sustainable digital leadership
From digital innovation to organisational adoption and change
The module prepares students to participate in the wider Digital and AI Leadership programme by developing the leadership mindset, organisational awareness and practical change capabilities needed to lead digital and AI-enabled transformation.

Learning outcomes

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

• Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of digital innovation as a socio-technical change process, involving the interaction of technologies, people, knowledge, culture and organisational context.
• Critically explain how digital innovation and change unfold iteratively, through experimentation, learning, adaptation, stakeholder engagement and resistance.ntation, learning, adaptation, stakeholder engagement and resistance.
• Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of how knowledge, networks and stakeholder relationships shape digital change, including the barriers and opportunities created within and across organisations.
• Critically engage with digital innovation, knowledge management, organisational change and leadership literature to analyse digital transformation challenges in complex organisational contexts.
• Demonstrate decision-making skills in relation to digital innovation and change initaitives

Indicative reading list

Reading lists can be found in Talis

Research element

Students will be asked to develop their own manifesto. This will challenge them to engage in ongoing and personal research of academic and non academic sources as part of curation practice throughout the duration of the module. Each week’s workshop will invite students to engage in research and reading. The module is also built on a curated experience, with students being exposed to a range of researchers (academics and practicioners) who will be highlighting the value of research to practice.

Interdisciplinary

Students will be working within diverse groups, exploring the theme and topic of each week via discussion, and seeking out of diverse viewpoints, working with the interdisciplinary background of the cohort. The module itself builds on tools and methods such as design thinking, which allows students to explore innovation from a range of disciplines. The manifesto assessment will also allow students to reflect on their experiences and disciplinary backgrounds and connect their learning to their existing disciplinary and professional knowledge.

International

Students will be working with a range of cases and contexts. The sustainability content of the module in particular invites student co-creation of stories and cases of innovation from a range of countries and local contexts close to the cohort. Various speakers involved in the module also allow students to engage with a range of ideas that are not restricted just to the UK digital innovation landscape.

Subject specific skills

Analyse how the processes and outcomes of digital innovation and change are shaped by social, organisational and institutional contexts, and evaluate the implications for digital leadership practice.

Transferable skills

Written and oral communication
Critical reflection