Monday 26 September 2011
Theories of Organisational Change: Planned Change essay
Essay topic is: Theories of Organisational Change: Planned Change. (Master degree essay) MA in Public Administration. The course called: Leading and Managing Change. This module explores the theory and practice of leading and managing change within the context of public service organisations. Specific learning objectives are: To introduce theories and frameworks applicable to leading and managing change in public service organizations; To identify the specific issues and complexities involved in leading and managing change in public sector contexts; To challenge established assumptions around change management; To consider factors that can help or hinder effective change, in relation to individuals, organizations and society; To explore different models of the change agent To introduce a multi-level perspective towards change, highlighting inter-relationships between society, institutions, organizations and individuals. Essay instruction: Please follow all instruction I gave you bellow. Analyse and critically evaluate in no more than 3,500 words how an organizational change in which you are/ have been involved, or have knowledge of, has been or is being managed. Your answer should: 1 Describe the content and the context of the change you have chosen 2 Analyse how successful your example was in achieving appropriate change and discuss what contributed to its success or lack of success 3 Discuss what possible alternative approaches might be/ have been more effective 4 Draw on the literature, frameworks and theories covered in the module, as appropriate and relevant to your example, to illustrate your analysis 5 Reflect on what you have learned from the study of this example about your own practice in managing or influencing change. Some points to note: 1. Although you need to describe the change you are studying, this should not be the central focus of the essay. You should aim to write no more that 750 words in describing the change in order to leave adequate space for analysis and conclusions. 2. You may if you wish also attach as an annex any data from within the organisation which you think might help the reader to understand the example that you are evaluating, such as internal memoranda, planning documents, etc. Documents of this kind that are attached as Annexes will not be included within the word count. 3. If the change is in the past, it is easier to reflect back on the process and to review the outcomes with hindsight. If the change is current, there will be difficulties in evaluating its success because the outcome of the change is current and will not yet be evident. In this case you should review the planning and process so far and estimate how successful or otherwise it has been. You should also consider the merits of different approaches from this stage onwards. The case study should be at the centre. Then you can cover the dimensions 1-5 that are outlined on the assessment criteria. You will be able to address issues suhc as planned change within your assigment but they should be integrated with, and flow from, the discussion of the case study. The choice of case study is the key thing for tackling the assessment and everything will flow from that. Could you use this references, and then you could add your own references. Osborne, S.P. and Brown, K. (2005). Managing Change and Innovation in Public Service Organisations. London: Routledge. Hughes, M. (2007). Change Management: a Critical Perspective. CIPD: London. Sminia, Harry and Van Nistelrooij, Antonie(2006) 'Strategic management and organization development: Planned change in a public sector organization', Journal of Change Management, 6: 1, 99 — 113 Balogun, J. and Hailey, V.H. (2004) Exploring Strategic Change, 2nd edn (Harlow: Prentice-Hall). Burnes, B. (2004) Managing Change: A Strategic Approach to Organizational Dynamics, 4th edn (Harlow: Pearson). Cummings, T.G. and Worley, C.G. (2005) Organization Development and Change, 8th edn (Cincinnati, OH: South-Western College Publishing). French, W.L., Bell, C.H. and Zawacki, R.A. (2000) Organization Development and Transformation: Managing Effective Change, 5th edn (New York: McGraw-Hill). O’Brien, G. (2002) Participation as the key to successful change – a public sector case study, Leadership & Organizational Development Journal, 23, pp. 442–55. Patchett, R.R. (2005) Organization development in the public sector, in: Cummings, T.G. and Worley, C.G. (eds),Organization Development and Change, 8th edn (Cincinnati, OH: South-Western College Publishing), pp. 596–603. Robertson, P.J. and Seneviratne, S.J. (1995) Outcomes of planned organizational change in the public sector: A meta-analytic comparison to the private sector, Public Administration Review, 55, pp. 547–58.
