BHO0202 Managing Organisational Design and Change

In the first part of the assessment package, we looked at the theoretical foundations of change. In the second assessment we will further enhance our skills to apply these foundational models into practice. We will gain insight from real world practices and gain appreciation as to how and why changes were initiated and thus succeeded/failed.

Your task in this assignment is to conduct a study about a change made by a particular organisation. You may pick a company of your choice.

1. What was the nature of the change (in terms of magnitude, areas of operation, market structure, culture or other areas you identify)?
2. What were the internal and external forces that drove the change?
3. What were the critical factors that led to the success or failure of the change programme?
4. What recommendations you would like to give to the organisation if they initiate a similar change in the future?

You must apply the theoretical models learned from lectures and tutorials throughout the analysis. Please conduct careful research of organisation’s activities and collect relevant information related to the organisational change.

Selecting the case of organisational change

In this portfolio, you are expected to provide a secondary analysis of an organisational change process. You can select any organisation it is recommended that you focus on an organisation with sufficient secondary information about their change activities. Listed firms with a variety of disclosed reports or famous multinational enterprises are highly recommended. Equally, with a large organization with a lot of data, pick one part of the business rather than the whole business on which to build your portfolio.

You may to choose to use the default case-study of Marvel studios that we covered in tutorials if you so choose.

You must position your report with ONLY ONE change at a specific period of time. Possible examples are shown below but are not limited to

A decision to change an information system.

A decision to change an operational system.

A decision to alter a human resource policy.

A decision to introduce new product/business model

A decision to enter a new country/market

A decision to change the way of raw material planning.

A decision to change the culture of a firm

Key components to be addressed

Explain what the selected organisation did change (e.g. product portfolio, foreign market withdrawal, asset structure, top management team, ownership structure, human resource policy)

Explain what the change was in nature (Please reflect on the key theoretical concepts)

Briefly describe whether the change was successful with evidence

What were the internal and external forces that drove the change?

Explain how the change unfolded over time

Explore and demonstrate what the internal forces of the change were

Explore and demonstrate what the external forces of the change were

Explain how the internal and external forces interacted throughout the change process

Reflect on the key theoretical concepts

What were the critical factors that led to the success or failure of the change programme?

Explain what the consequences of the change were

Identify the critical factors that led to the success or failure

Explain why the critical factors led to the success or failure

Summary of findings and key arguments

If you were the change champion initiating and implementing the change, what alternative actions would be done?

It is the student’s responsibility to ensure all key arguments are supported by reliable and qualified evidence. In other words, please check whether your key arguments are all supported by trustworthy citations before submission. Blogs, Wikipedia, individual reports, other student papers are not allowed to use as references.

Reputable academic journals (Some examples are attached in “Academic skills training” on Brightspace)

Reputable newspapers and magazines (e.g. The Economists, Harvard Business Review, Financial Times, etc.)

Organisation’s website and press releases, annual reports, organisational structure charts, strategic visions, etc.

Books written about the organisation

Government and reputable organisation websites (OECD, UNCTAD, The World Bank, WTO, WHO, Hofstede Insights, etc.)

Sources from famous commercial consultancy companies (McKinsey, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, PwC, etc.)

Secondary data from reliable dataset (e.g. Passport, Bloomberg, solid user data from social media etc.)

Your portfolio should outline and discuss what, how and why the change unfolded over time. Simply describing or listing possible triggers will not answer the assignment question. Your explanations must be grounded in theoretical frameworks. In other words, your explanations must consider element/factors/components set out in the various theoretical perspectives we discussed in this module. Please refer to and review core and detailed knowledge and theories. Please make sure that you understand the theoretical perspectives and models you use very well – e.g. what they are intended for, how they work and how they are related to other perspectives. More importantly, a comprehensive synthesis of all topics learned the module in your own words will make your work distinct.

The maximum word count for this assignment is 2,000 words. You are allowed to be 10% under or over the world count. A mark penalty of 5% will be applied to submissions that exceed the word count.

Cite all information used in your work which is clearly from a source. Try to ensure that all sources in your reference list are seen as citations in your work, and all names cited in the work appear in your reference list.

Reference and cite your work in accordance with the APA 7th system – the University’s chosen referencing style.  For specific advice, you can talk to your Business librarians or go to the library help desk, or you can access library guidance via the following link:

The Assessment Criteria are shown the end of this document.  Your tutor will discuss how your work will be assessed/marked and will explain how the assessment criteria apply to this piece of work.  These criteria have been designed for your level of study.

These criteria will be used to mark your work and will be used to support the electronic feedback you receive on your marked assignment. Before submission, check that you have tried to meet the requirements of the higher-grade bands to the best of your ability. Please note that the marking process involves academic judgement and interpretation within the marking criteria.

The Learning Innovation Development Centre can help you to understand and use the assessment criteria.  To book an appointment, either visit them on The Street in the Charles Sikes Building or email them on [email protected]

The assessment task outlined above has been designed to address specific validated learning outcomes for this module. It is useful to keep in mind that these are the things you need to show in this piece of work.

On completion of this module, students will need to demonstrate:

On completion of this module students will:

1. Have knowledge of the application of a variety of models, methods, tools and technique to achieve an understanding of an organisations operating environment, in sustaining organisational performance.
2. Have developed an understanding of the nature of organisational design for sustainable performance
3. Have gained knowledge of typical approaches to developing and deploying organisational strategies.
4. Have gained an appreciation of the importance of quality for organisational success for sustainable performance
5. Have gained an appreciation of the value of taking a systems approach to understanding and managing organisations.
6. Have knowledge of the importance of people and culture in the organisational design and development process
7. Appraise different approaches to managing and improving organisational and individual performance
8. Demonstrate the use of a wide range of methods, tools and techniques used to improve organisational effectiveness, operational efficiency and the quality and performance of organisations and individuals
9. Investigate typical organisational and operational issues and problems. identify their root causes and potential solutions
10. Conceptualise organisational situations and issues using models and diagrams
11. Use established theory to explore organisational situations
12. Use of academic literature to initiate and develop discussion.
13. Present and justify in a credible management report the findings from a case-based scenario.