Overview
Leading and managing organizational change has become essential in both public- and private-sector organizations. Not only is change a constant in today’s business world, but many organizational change programs fail. When leading and managing change, leaders and managers must deal not only with the technical, process, and operational aspects of change, but they must also understand and address the psychological or human side. In this course, we will attempt to understand change processes and perspectives through theory and discussion, and to apply the knowledge gained through simulated change via interactive multimedia. In a simulated environment, you will be able to experiment, make mistakes, and experience leading and managing change in a consequence-free environment. Through the simulated experience, you will gain both intellectual and experiential knowledge of organizational change theories.
Objectives
In this course, learners will:
- develop a greater awareness of why organizations change and the roles of leaders and managers in the process.
- identify the forces for and against change.
- examine how organizations work through the process of change.
- experience decision making for change in a simulated, multimedia environment.
- apply new knowledge and skills in change leadership by creating a new change plan for use at their home organizations.
Evaluation
Students will be evaluated based on their participation in weekly online discussions (35%), one multimedia simulation assignment (40%), and a written assignment (25%). To pass the course, students must achieve at least 60% on the discussion component and 60% or more as a combined average on the assignments.