THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
DEPARTMENT OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION Strategic Management and Organization 433
Lecture B1, Winter Term 2015-2016 MANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE Instructor: Dr. Robert P. Gephart, Jr.
Office: Bus 4-30J
Telephone: 780-492-5715 Email:[email protected]
Course Time and Location: T,R 12.30-13:50 hrs. in Bus 4-9.
Office Hours: T,R 14:00-15:00 hrs. and by appointment. I am in my office and available to students most days.
Additional Information: You may also contact me at 780-437-6930 (home) or 587-778-9094 (cell) from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
Calendar Course Description (refined)
This course examines organizational change defined as the process through which organizations make transitions from one state to another. The course also addresses how management goes about changing corporate culture, organization structure, and management systems.
General Description
Organizational change involves a process through which organizations alter their structures, technologies, environments, cultures, work practices and other aspects of their operations and systems. Organizational change has become a key focus in the broad field of management and organization studies. At one level, a variety of external pressures such as changes in the environment or governmental regulations lead organizations to alter internal features to attempt to better address external considerations and opportunities. At another level, problems and inconsistencies in operations can lead organizational leaders and/or members to seek and initiate changes to improve organizational functioning. In particular, many mangers, leaders and organizations have a strong belief that implementing change is the best way to deal with key organizational challenges and problems.
The focus on using change to address organizational problems assumes that change can be undertaken as a prescribed, “top-down”process launched and guided by management. The longstanding focus on planned or episodic change has however been challenged in recent research that shows change is a natural, emergent and ongoing process in organizations. These ongoing evolutionary changes are often not adequately recognized or understood. In this course, we explore both views of change. We explore different images of change, the reasons why organizations change, the nature of change, diagnosing change, dealing with resistence to change, change implementation and key approaches to change, the role of vision in change, communication skills and strategies for change, and ways to sustain change.
The course has 5 key objectives. First, by completing the course you should gain a broad understanding of the field of organization change management. Second, you should become familiar with key approaches to
undertaking organizational change and common problems in implementing change. Third, you should enhance your ability and skills needed to successfully implement or support change initiatives in organizations. Fourth, you should improve your written and oral communication skills particularly those skills relevant to formulating, discussing, communicating and assessing organizational change. Fifth, you will learn the basics of the Socio-Economic Approach to Management, a practical approach to implementing strategic change.
Required Readings.
Textbook: Palmer, I., R. Dunford and G. Akin. 2009. Managing organizational change: a multiple perspectives approach. 2nd Edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin. This is available from the bookstore in hard copy form and can be purchased directly from the publisher. It is also listed on Amazon.ca at a lower price. An e-book rental existed at the time textbooks were ordered.
Socio-economic change management book. C. Worley, V. Zardet, M. Bonnet and A. Savall, Becoming Agile:
How the SEAM Approach to Management Builds Adaptability. Jossey-Bass, 2015 (a Wiley publication). This book will be available from the U of A bookstore, as an e-book for Kindle from Amazon.ca for about $11 CAD and
from your preferred vendor.
Cases: Many of the end of chapter cases from the textbook will be used in the course and are listed on the syllabus.
In addition, a small number of other short cases as well as 1 or 2 supplemental (longer) cases drawn from outside sources may also be used if needed.
Articles: A small number of scholarly articles may be assigned as supplemental readings for the course to address emergent gaps in the readings or other needs. These will be available if needed through e-journals as well as from the course website on blackboard.
Assessment of Learning Outcomes
Learning outcomes will be assessed through 2 examinations, a research paper proposal, a research paper, a research presentation and class participation.
Examinations: 2 @ 25% each = 50%
Research Proposal @ 5%= 5%
Research Presentation@ 5%= 5%
Research paper: @ 30% = 30%
Class participation: @ 10%= 10%
The university course outline policy can be found in the University Calendar.
Examinations. The 2 examinations encourage thoughtful reflection on course issues and will be used to assess your knowledge of key readings, cases and course ideas. Examination 1 will be held during class February 9. A study guide with sample questions will be provided a week in advance of the examination. Open ended questions with short to medium length answers (½ to one or two pages) will be used. Examination 2 is the final take home examination and this is due April 9 at 4.00 p.m. The final examination is intended to help students reflect on and integrate course insights. The examination will involve some type of open ended question format
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it will be constructed in consultation with students and will be distributed a week in advance of the due date.Research Paper. The research proposal, proposal poster presentation and research paper will be outlined more fully in a detailed handout (to follow). You are required to complete a short (1 page, 250 words, single spaced) research proposal concerning your proposed term paper topic objectives, research questions and research site. The proposal is due February 23 at the start of class. More details will be provided later.
You are also required to do a poster presentation on your research proposal on March 1. Note that a copy of your posters or visual materials (slides) is NOT equivalent to your proposal. The research proposal and presentation will help you prepare for the research paper. The proposal and presentation will be marked generously. The instructor will provide brief written feedback (comments) on the proposal.
The research paper provides you with an opportunity to investigate and provide potential guidance for an actual and useful organizational change in a real firm or organization. In brief, you will select an organization, interview the manager, owner or other senior staff member and possibly an employee and/or a customer about a past, current or future change (maximum interview time for all interviews limited to 2 hours) to uncover and describe a
dysfunction, determine the hidden costs of the dysfunction and recommend a change that uncovers hidden potential that can overcome the dysfunction. Through this process you will provide a brief case history of the organization and dysfunction, use concepts and or models of organizational change – especially agility and SEAM-- to interpret the case history, and use the SEAM and other organizational change approaches to assess the efficacy and potential success of the change.
For this report, you are expected to prepare an 8 page (2,000 words, double spaced, typewritten) research paper describing and analysing features of an actual organizational change. The research paper is worth 30% of your total mark and is due March 17, 2015 at the start of class. You may submit the research paper prior to th is date.
Further details on this assignment are provided in a detailed handout to be distributed later.
The research paper must be an original research effort which is individually authored by yourself. Please provide me with a good quality printed copy of your paper as well as an e-copy sent by email and retain a copy for your files.
Academic honesty is expected: please avoid plagiarism or other dishonest practices. You are expected to be
familiar with standards of academic honesty. Please see the Code of Student Behavior (online at
www.ualberta.ca/secretariat/appeals.htm.). A detailed description of the project will be provided in a handout.
Class Sessions and Participation.
The instructor will provide daily handouts with the class agenda, lecture points, questions for discussion, news items and other information.
The course uses a mixture of lectures and seminar type discussions and will emphasize class discussions more than lectures. In addition, class sessions will use audio-visual materials and in-class activities including role plays. Given the nature of the course, students are expected to attend class sessions regularly, to participate actively during these class sessions and to do the reading in advance of these sessions. That is, class discussions which will be more informative if you read material in advance. You are also encouraged to integrate the course ideas and materials and to think about the ideas in a broad manner. In discussions, assignments and examinations, you are also expected to explain and justify your ideas. The instructor will assess class participation in terms of the frequency of attendance and the quality of your contributions to the class and course.
Digital Device Use Policy.
Students are permitted the use of laptops or tablet devices in class to take notes or access the course website or other materials relevant to the class. Other uses such as watching movies or sports events, sorting photos, or sending emails involve distractions that are disruptive to the class, the instructor and other students and are not permitted.
Cell phones should be turned off prior to class. Use of cellular phones for making or receiving calls, texting or other non-course related purposed is prohibited. Violation of the digital use policy may result in a lower grade for the course. Audio or video recording of lectures, labs, seminars or any other teaching environment by students is allowed only with the prior written consent of the instructor or as a part of an approved accommodation plan.
Grading
Grading will be assigned based on the cumulative score acquired by each student. A’s denote excellent
performance, B’s denote good performance, C’s are satisfactory, and D+ is poor. Final grades will be determined by cut-off points rather than a particular distribution. Consideration will be given to cumulative score out of 1000 points or 100%, possible natural breaks, university policy on class GPAs, and any relevant factor that relates to students’ performance. The instructor has some discretion in awarding final grades but, generally, the average course grade should be about B to B+ and cut-off points should fall quite closely to the following:
95%+: A+ 80-84: B+ 65-69: C+ 50-54: D+
90-94: A 75-79: B 60-64: C
85-89: A- 70-74: B- 55-59: C-
NOTES:
Class Schedule
Date Topic Reading Activity
January 5 Stories of Change P. Ch.1; W. V-xix
Jan 7 W. pp. v-end Discussion of Stories of Change
Jan 12 Images of Managing Change Palmer Ch 2 (P2) Green Mountain Case Jan 14 Introduction to SEAM & agility W., Ch. 1
Jan 19 Why organizations change P3
Jan 21 Intel Case
Jan 26 What changes P4 Nestlé Case
Jan 28 Change at Brioche Pasquier (1) W., Ch.2
Feb 2 Diagnosis for Change P5 Boeing Case
Feb 4 Change at Brioche Pasquier (2) W., Ch. 3
Feb 9 ☞Examination 1
Feb 11 Change at Brioche Pasquier (3) W., Ch. 4
Feb 16 READING WEEK NO CLASSES
Feb 18 READING WEEK NO CLASSES
Feb 23 Resistance to Change P6 Perrier Case
Feb 25 Resistance/Implementation (1) P7 ☞Research Proposal Due
March 1 Change at DuPont Case
March 3 ☞Poster Presentations (2)
March 8 Implementing Change (2) P8 British Airways Swipe Card Debacle March 10 Linking vision and change P9
March 15 Mentor Graphics Case
March 17 ☞Research Paper Due at Start of Class
March 22 Communication Strategies P10
March 24 Cheryl Ways
March 29 Communication Skills P11
March 31 Tyco Case
April 5 Sustaining Change P12 Challenger and Columbia Case
April 7 LAST CLASS: Final Remarks Pizza
April 9 ☞Take home exam due 4.00 p.m.
☞Take home exam due 4.00 p.m.
