MSc Management and Information Systems: Change and Development (Distance Learning)

Year of entry: 2024

Course unit details:
Organisation Development and Change

Course unit fact file
Unit code MGDI70050
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
Offered by Global Development Institute
Available as a free choice unit? Yes

Overview

Syllabus

1. Introduction: Organizations and OD
2. OD definitions and values
3. Models of change
4. The roots of OD
5. Consultancy: Managing the consultancy process
6. Leadership and manager as change agent
7. Organization development in practice
8. Resistance to change

Aims

' To provide a critical understanding of the methods and approaches currently associated with OD, and as applied in a developing/newly industrializing country context.
- To critically examine actual and potential relationships between OD and initiatives in international and social and economic development
- To enable participants to identify the implications of OD for their own practice as change agents working in national and/or international development

Learning outcomes

After completing the course unit students should be able to:

- Define organization development, and relate it to issues of organizational capacity building in developing countries
- Identify the stages of an OD process, drawing from action research
- Outline the concepts underpinning contemporary OD
- Distinguish between individual, team, and who organization based interventions, and understand their application in developing countries
- Outline the stages in the consultancy process, and understand the strengths and weaknesses of different consultancy styles
- Describe the importance of inter-organizational relationships for capacity building in development
- Critically assess international development agencies approach to change management from an OD perspective

Teaching and learning methods

Distance Learning Mode including weekly online tutorials

Assessment methods

One 3,500 word essay (90%)

Tutorial participation (max 10%)

  • Student must engage with minimum of 4/8 tutorials, including at least 1 synchronous tutorial  (5%)
  • Student must engage with minimum of 6/8 tutorials, including at least 1 synchronous tutorial (10%)

Re-sit Assessment: One 3,500 word essay (100%)

Recommended reading

Course unit textbook

French, W. and C. Bell (1999) Organizational development: Behaviour science interventions for organization improvement, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall

Additional notes

Information
MGDI Programmes on which course unit is offered:
MSc Human Resource Management and Development (via Distance Learning) and MSc Management and Information Systems: Change and Development (via Distance Learning)

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