MSc Management and Information Systems: Change and Development

Year of entry: 2025

Course unit details:
Organizational Psychology, Management and Change

Course unit fact file
Unit code MGDI70081
Credit rating 15
Unit level FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree
Teaching period(s) Semester 1
Available as a free choice unit? No

Overview

To help students to develop understanding of the social and organizational context of work psychology as it relates to day to day operation. The goal is to reorient thinking and help students locate themselves within the larger context of managing ‘people at work’. The main focus will be on thematic challenges in psycho-social behaviour, cultural diversity and people management and their implications for organizational development and change. The aim is to promote thinking and expand students’ perspectives on thematic areas of psychology in work related context which are relevant to their initial, current or future professional roles in public, private or non-profit organizations.

 

Aims

The main focus will be on thematic challenges in psycho-social behaviour, cultural diversity and people management and their implications for organizational development and change. The aim is to promote thinking and expand students’ perspectives on thematic areas of psychology in work related context which are relevant to their initial, current or future professional roles in public, private or non-profit organizations.

 

Learning outcomes

On completion of this course unit participants will be able to:

Syllabus

A detailed syllabus shall be provided at the beginning of the 1st Semester.

Teaching and learning methods

The course unit is delivered during the first semester using a variety of teaching and learning methods including formal lectures, group-based tutorial activities and o tutorial sessions. The teaching and learning themes indicated above are designed to balance formal lecture-based inputs with opportunities for the students to engage with the subject area in a participative and applied manner.  As such, enquiry based learning led by group-based tutorial presentations is an integral component of the teaching and learning strategy associated with this course unit. The group work offers a significant opportunity to: explore theoretical contexts; gather, organise, analyse and theorise; prepare presentations on a chosen topic; and develop relevant knowledge and skills in organizational psychology (OP) in order to explore practical organisational contexts at local, national and international contexts as this relates to individual experience and expectations.

 1 * 3 hour session per week.

The teaching and learning strategy has three strands:

(1)  Formal lecture inputs to cover selected OP theories and practices.

(2)  Study fellow assigned inputs on

        - Critical overviews of OP themes and theories

        - OP in a variety of country organization contexts

(3)  Applications of (1) and (2) to case studies

 

- Learning and teaching process also include blackboard and web-based e-learning.

 

Knowledge and understanding

  • understand a wide range of approaches to organisational psychology in the literature and analyse issues of behaviour in organisations
  • broaden their perspective as international HR practitioners, with a focus on organizational fields of actions such as human resource management, human resource development and organizational change and development, beyond the specific worlds in which they live and work

 

Intellectual skills

  • locate themselves in relation to unknown or less familiar arenas of action, including public, private and non-profit sectors, cultures and organizations and to understand the interplay between such variables affecting action for organisational change and development
  • enable them to analyse the implications of insights into these contexts for governance and management across the boundaries of cultures etc

Practical skills

  • prepare them for further learning and professional development in a range of HR practitioner skills relevant to effective behaviour in known and new organization and social and work role contexts
  • apply theoretical frameworks effectively to their own and projected management practice contexts

Transferable skills and personal qualities

  • understand and critically analyse a set of key development-related concepts and explore frameworks with which to make informed decisions to solve challenges in a wide range of organizational contexts.
  • discuss critically the relevance of that literature to understanding occupational psychology and behaviour in their own organisations, and in their own and other country contexts

 

Employability skills

Other
relate a broad view of aspects of organizational psychology to their own work context and a wide range of other change and development contexts ¿ including sectoral, institutional, organizational, national and ethnic, and role-determined ones.

Assessment methods

Method Weight
Written assignment (inc essay) 100%
  • One assignment (3000 words), written on a topic of the participant’s choice, to convenor’s guidelines.

Feedback methods

There will be many opportunities for formative feedback. Oral feedback will be provided in response to class discussions. Summative feedback will be provided on assessed coursework.

Recommended reading

BOOKS:

  • Arnold, John et al (2005): Work Psychology, Prentice Hall
  • Branine, Mohamed (2011): Managing Across Cultures – Concepts, Policies and Practices, Sage
  • Drummond, Helga (2000): Introduction to Organizational Behaviour, Oxford University Press  – electronic version can be accessed online.
  • Francesco, Anne Marie and Gold, Barry Allen (2005): International Organizational Behaviour (second edition), New Jersey, USA, Pearson Prentice Hall  
  • Guirham, Maureen (2011): Communicating Across Cultures at Work, Palgrave Macmillan
  • Hofstede, Geert & Hofstede, Gert Jan & Minkov, Michael (2010) Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, McGraw Hill Professional
  • Huczynski, Andrzej and Buchanan, David (2007): Organizational Behaviour: an introductory text 6th edition, Prentice Hall   
  • Matthewman,Lisa & Rose, Amanda & Hetherington, Angela (2009): Work Psychology: An Introduction to Human Behaviour in the Workplace, OUP Oxford
  • McFarlin, Dean & Sweeney, Paul (2011): International Management – Strategic Opportunities and Cultural Challenges, Routledge
  • Millward, Lynne (2005): Understanding Occupational & Organizational Psychology, Sage
  • Moran, Robert & Harris, Philip & Moran, Sarah (2011): Managing Cultural Differences – Leadership Skills and Strategies for Working in Global World, Elsevier
  • Robbins, Stephen P. (2005): Organizational Behavior – International Edition. Prentice Hall
  • Sarris, Aspa and Kirby, Neil (2013): Organisational Psychology: Research and Professional Practice, Tilde University Press

 

JOURNALS

  • Academy of Management Journal
  • Academy of Management Review
  • British Journal of Industrial Relations
  • International Journal of Public Administration
  • International Review of Administrative Sciences
  • Organisation Studies
  • Organisational Dynamics
  • Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
  • Public Administration Review

 

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Lectures 30
Independent study hours
Independent study 120

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Mohammad Farhad Hossain Unit coordinator

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