Module Description Template
s

Title

/ The Leadership of Change
Code / MNM82
Level / M
Credit rating / 20
Pre-requisites / None
Type of module / Intensive Block Mode (3 days)
Aims /
  • To introduce leadership as a major perspective on managing change.
  • To explore the role of communications in leading change.
  • To understand the nature and scope of resistance to change.
  • To understand the significance of power and politics in organisational change processes.

Learning outcomes/objectives / On completion of this module, the student will be able to:
  • Critically analyse leadership from a range of competing theoretical perspectives.
  • Critically analyse communications from a range of competing theoretical perspectives.
  • Understand the subtleties of resistance to change, particularly in terms of why it occurs and its role in change processes.

Content / Leading Change
  • Theories, models and concepts of leading change
  • Differentiating leading and managing change
Communicating Change
  • Theories, models and concepts of communicating change
  • Understanding barriers to communicating change
Resistance to Change
  • Analysing resistance to change
  • Rationales for resistance to change
  • Rethinking resistance to change
Power and Politics
  • Understanding organisational change from the perspective of power
  • Understanding organisational change from the perspective of politics

Teaching and learning strategies / The module content will be delivered through a three day intensive block workshop. There will be a mix of focussed lecturer input and small group application of theories, models and concepts. Time will be given to exploring individual experiences of leadership and ‘followership’.
Workshops = 24 Hours
Self Study = 136 Hours
Assessment = 40 Hours
TOTAL = 200 Hours
Learning support / Books
The latest editions of:
Buchanan D. and Badham R. Power, Politics and Organizational Change: Winning the turf game, London: Sage Publications
Collins, D. Organizational Change: A Sociological Perspective, London: Routledge
Conner, D. R. Managing at the Speed of Change, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons
Dawson, P. Understanding Organizational Change: The Contemporary Experience of People at Work, London: Sage Publications
Hayes, J. The Theory and Practice of Change Management, Houndmills: Palgrave
Hickman G. R. (ed.) Leading Organizations: Perspectives for a new era, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications
Hughes, M. Change Management: A Critical Perspective, Wimbledon: CIPD Publishing
Kotter J. P. Leading Change, Boston: Harvard Business School Press
Kets de Vries M. F. Prisoners of Leadership, New York: John Wiley & Sons
Senior, B. and Fleming, J. Organisational Change, Harlow: FT/Prentice Hall
Manning P. K. Organizational Communication, New York: Aldine De Gruyter
Journals (with coverage of leadership)
Journal of Change Management
Journal of Management Studies
Leadership and Organization Development Journal
Management Decision
Students are encouraged to review the latest research papers through the Online Library facility on Student Central
Assessment tasks / Individual Coursework (100%) An assignment evaluating a leadership theory from both a critical perspective and a practitioner perspective (3-4,000 words).
Brief description of module content and/or aims (maximum 80 words) / There has been increasing interest in how change is led in contemporary organisations. This module focuses upon the leadership of change as an integral aspect of change management. Competing approaches to the theory and practice of leading change are considered. Leadership is considered with reference to communications, resistance and power and politics. Students are encouraged to relate these theories to their own lived experience of leadership.
Area examination board to which module relates / Management
Module team/authors/coordinator / Module Leader Mark Hughes
Module team Management Development Subject Group
Semester offered, where appropriate / Semester One
Site where delivered / Moulsecoomb
Date of first approval / TBC
Date of last revision / N/A
Date of approval of this version
Version number / 1
Replacement for previous module / Managing People in Change (MNM64)
Field for which module is acceptable and status in that field / Compulsory (PG cert Managing Change)
Course(s) for which module is acceptable and status in that course / MSc Management Practice programme
PG cert Managing Change
School home / Brighton Business School
External examiner / Professor Richard Harding