MSc Management and Information Systems: Change and Development

Year of entry: 2025

Course unit details:
Organisational Change Strategies

Course unit fact file
Unit code MGDI70882
Credit rating 15
Unit level FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree
Teaching period(s) Semester 2
Available as a free choice unit? No

Overview

This course unit aims to help participants understand the emergence of new types of organisation, and analyse strategies and techniques that are applied to support organisational change.

Aims

This course unit aims to help participants understand the emergence of new types of organisation, and analyse strategies and techniques that are applied to support organisational change.

Learning outcomes

  1. Understand the implications of new organisational forms within different development contexts, and the changes that it implies.
  2. Understand assessment frameworks for the implementation of organisational change and the impacts of change.
  3. Critically appraise and contribute to the strategies and processes of change that are part of current conceptions of the new organisation, such as knowledge management and business process re-engineering.

 

Syllabus

Week 1: The New Organisation

Week 2: Understanding Organisational Change

Week 3: Managing Organisational Change

Week 4: Managing Organisational Change Case Study

Week 5: Business Process Reengineering

Week 6: Outsourcing

Week 7: Customer Orientation

Week 8: Knowledge Management

Week 9: Empowerment

Week 10: Summation/Debate

 

Teaching and learning methods

-Lectures

-Tutorials

-Group work

-Case study analysis

 

Knowledge and understanding

-Understanding the complexity and interdependence of change using diagnostic models, e.g., Weisbord Model, Congruence model and 7S model.

-Organisational and group level change - change strategies: BPR/TQM; Outsourcing; Customer orientation; Knowledge management; Empowerment

 

Intellectual skills

-Applying and adapting change assessment models to specific organisational change case studies

-Case study analysis

Practical skills

-Applying techniques to decide why organisations need to change (SWOT, environment analysis)

-Determining who and what can change (force field analysis, drivers and constraints, readiness and capability for change)

 

Transferable skills and personal qualities

-Team/group work skills

Employability skills

Other
-Experience gained with practical change strategies that are relevant to contemporary organisations: BPR/TQM; Outsourcing; Customer orientation; Knowledge management; Empowerment.

Assessment methods

Method Weight
Written assignment (inc essay) 100%
  • Written assignment (3,000 words)

Feedback methods

Groupwork feedback from students (weeks 5-9)

Feedback to students on case study analysis (weeks (weeks 2-4)  

Recommended reading

  • B. Senior & Swailes, S. (2016) Organisational Change (5th Ed). Financial Times/Prentice-Hall, Harlow, Essex.
  • Cameron, E. & Green, M. (2015) Making sense of change management: a complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organisational change. 4th ed. London: Kogan Page.
  • Carnall, C. & Todnem By, R. (2014) Managing Change in Organisations (6th Edition), Pearson, Harlow.
  • Burnes, B. (2014) Managing Change (6th Ed), Pearson, Harlow, Essex.
  • Myers, P., Hulks, S. & Wiggins, L. (2012) Organisational Change: Perspectives on Theory and Practice, Oxford University Press.
  • Rosenbaum, D., More, E. & Steane, P. (2018) Planned organisational change management: Forward to the past? An exploratory literature review, Journal of Change Management, Vol 31 (2): 286-303
  • Burnes, B. & Jackson, P. (2011) Introduction: Why does change fail, and what can we do about it?, Journal of Change Management, 11(4): 445-450
  • Todnemby, R. (2005) Organisational Change Management: A Critical Review, Journal of Change Management, 5 (4): 369-380.

 

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Lectures 20
Tutorials 10
Independent study hours
Independent study 120

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Richard Duncombe Unit coordinator

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