SOL20 Managing Strategic Change

• Topics

  Organizations pursue strategic change in response to changes in the external environment and to improve firm performance. Managing large-scale organizational change has proven difficult and as many as 70-75% of all planned change initiatives fail to reach their goals. This course provides the students with an analytical framework that allows them to better understand, organize and manage planned change processes in organizations. Students are trained in practical application of the framework through the use of teaching cases and practical change exercises. Topics include: analyzing the context and content of change, making implementation choices, understanding and handling reactions to change, change agent skills and roles, and managing the transition. 

• Learning outcome

  Knowledge - upon successful completion the student

  • can demonstrate knowledge and understanding of central themes and theories of strategic change
  • is familiar with the basics from research on strategic change
  • has a critical and reflective approach to understanding strategic change
  • can demonstrate a reflective approach to real-life strategic change processes 

  Skills - upon successful completion the student can

  • apply research-based models and theories to analyze strategic change
  • reflect on strengths and weaknesses of their own analysis
  • identify relevant information to organize and plan strategic change in an organization
  • make research-based suggestions on how to manage strategic change

  General competencies

  • can understand and communicate various approaches to change
  • can understand and communicate various reactions to change
  • can engage in a meaningful and reflective dialogue with industry members/managers/practitioners on strategic change

• Teaching

  The course aims to develop skills on planned organizational change at the individual and team level. Classes consist of a combination of lectures, case discussions and change exercises. 

• Recommended prerequisites

  Recommend some understanding of strategy, e.g. introductory book on strategic management.

• Requirements for course approval

  Course approval requirements:

  1 group-based case analysis hand-in (approved/not approved)

  1 individual project reflection note (approved/not approved)

  Attendance in minimum 50% of the lectures

• Assessment

  Four hour Individual home exam (case-based), between 09:00 and 13:00 on the exam day.

• Grading Scale

  A-F

• Literature

  Balogun, J., Hope Hailey, V. and Gustafsson, S. 2016. Exploring Strategic Change. 4th ed. Pearson. 

  Collection of cases will be made available electronically.