Organization
Development and Change:
The Manager as a Change Agent
Fall
2002
W516
– Fall 2002
MBA – Section 5632
Room CG2069
Tuesday
Prerequisite – MBA core or
permission of instructor
Professor
W. Harvey Hegarty
Office:
BU650G
Phone:
(812) 855-2580
E-mail: Hegarty@indiana.edu
Office Hours:
T/Th,
Webpage: www.bus.indiana.edu/hegarty/
Secretary:
Laura Hawkins, lhawkins@indiana.edu,
855-9200
Course Materials
- Buckingham,
Marcus and Coffman, Curt, First Break All the Rules, 1999, (Simon and
Schuster,
- Book of your
choice dealing with some aspect of organizational development/change. See
- Materials
on electronic reserve. http://kelley.iu.edu/library/reserves.html
Username =
Hegarty; Password
= trends
- Handouts
distributed in class.
Course Objectives
- To develop
an understanding of what constitutes a healthy organization
- To develop
an appreciation for the danger of using yesterday’s guidelines to
solve tomorrow’s
problems
- To further
cement the importance of remaining in the questioning mode before
beginning to draw conclusions
- To develop
an appreciation of the kind of homework necessary before implementing
change
- To
understand how we can look into the future to better prepare ourselves for
what we do today
- To examine
our own views, response sets, and attitudes toward both personal and
organizational change To assess our own effectiveness as a change agent
and develop personal goals to better prepares ourselves for the unknown
My Assumptions
- You are
and desire to continue to be a survivor of change.
- Five years
ago, Fall of 1997, you had no or almost no clue about what your life would
be like this fall.
- You
recognize the critical importance of strategic planning, both personal and
organizational, but realize one must always be prepared to seize
unexpected opportunities.
- You
understand there are NO right answers in life, only more or less desirable
possibilities.
- You
recognize that understanding the resistance to change (personal, group,
and organizational) is an important life skill.
- You are
not a big fan of 2 ½ hour lectures late in the afternoon.
My Philosophy
I believe we each take on the
responsibility for our own personal development and growth. My responsibility in this course
includes: providing you with material
that is important to understanding and implementing change, creating a learning
environment in the classroom that fosters open communication and debate, use a
variety of teaching pedagogies to maximize the use of learning styles, and be
open to your own personal needs as they pertain to this course. Your
responsibilities include: reading the assigned material in a timely fashion,
come to class with an open mind and whatever caffeine and chocolate you need
given the hour of the day, be a conscientious team member when working with
others, and communicate with me at any time if there is some clarification I
need to make to insure this is an excellent learning experience for you.
Major Themes
- Paradigms
- Scenarios
- Data
collection
- Resistance
to change
- Skills for
a change agent
- Introspection
and reflection
Class format
Since this a course on change every class
will be little different. The major
rationale for this is not to condition you to expect the unexpected, although
in today’s environment that is a reasonable. There are a wide
variety of ways to learn and to experience. Tapping into many of these will maximize our
exposure to understanding, absorption, and retention. The class will include: class discussions and debates, short
lectures, possibly a guest speaker, in-class small group work, and a web case
where we will be online and not be in class.
Course Requirements
I.
Class attendance and participation
II.
Read two books, one of which will be your choice
III.
Homework.
IV.
Journal - Keep a journal from the beginning of
the course through Nov. 12 relating course concepts with your experiences
and/or observations.
V.
Final Exercise - essay/short response questions
relating to the material covered in the course.
Homework
During the semester occasionally there
will be homework assignments. These
serve two-fold purposes. By reading them
I can determine if everyone is relating the course to real-life experiences and
observations. Second, they provide the
foundations for class discussion. They
are due after class the day they are due. They are NOT onerous time-consuming
assignments. They will not be graded, as
such, but I will provide qualitative comments.
Journal
This assignment involves your keeping a
journal from the beginning of the semester until November 12 when it is due to
be turned into me. You will have entries
for ten weeks beginning the first week of class. The purpose of this journal is for you to
relate what is covered in class and assigned readings to experiences you have
had. Most of these experiences will be
work related. Some may be educationally
related. A few might be of a more
personal nature. This is NOT a personal
journal, however, where you discuss what is going on with you. Keeping the journal is the way you will apply
what you are learning in the course to experiences and observations you have
had in your life. Each week new sets of
issues, concepts, and perspectives will be covered in class and in the reading
material.
Journal entries might address (but are
certainly not limited to) the questions listed below:
·
What did you learn from the books that you could
relate to your experience?
·
What surprised you about your behavior or the
behavior of others in a class exercise?
·
What did you learn about yourself in an in-class
exercise?What did you learn
about other people?
·
What did a speaker say that was particularly
relevant to you, and why?
·
How do OD principles apply to non-work
situations?
·
What from a lecture was most pertinent to you,
and why?
·
What from class/reading was particularly
relevant to what was going on in the organization you last worked for?
Journal entries should not be
restricted to what we cover in class.
Each week there will be assigned reading material to reflect on. You
will also be reading in your book of choice.
Any relevant situation you are in or have been involved in at work or in
some other setting is appropriate.
The journal is a confidential
communication between you and me. I will
not share verbally or in writing anything you write in your journal.
Journal entries should be made each week
and should be typed double-spaced. A
minimum of at least two pages a week is necessary to put you into the HighPass (B+) range.
For those desiring an Excellent or Distinguished evaluation the four to
five page range would be expected. The objective of this assignment is to provide
you with a document which you will be able to keep and refer to as a summary of
what you found important and why. The
objective for me is to have a reasonable way to measure the quantity and
quality of take-aways. Journal entries should be made EACH week. If you put it off until the end of the
semester it may become a pain-in-the ass assignment, which is exactly what I
DON’T want it to be. It is very
difficulty to remember in any reasonable and meaningful way in November what
went on in September.
Due Date:
Nov. 12
Final Exercise
The final exercise will be short-answer
and/or essay questions. Occasionally I
include a short case. I do construct
these until the end of the course. My goal
is to have a reasonable way to determine what you have learning and can apply
from the various topics/themes that have covered.
Participation
Throughout the course we will be in an
environment in the classroom designed for interactive learning. Most of the content of the course can be
gleaned from the material on reserve, the assigned books, and the
handouts. There will be a minimal amount
of lecturing to supplement this material.
A typical class (and they will all be different) will involve a modest
amount of lecturing, discussion of relevant topical areas, and involvement in
various exercises and simulations which provide some reality to theory and give
you the opportunity to reflect and respond to a variety of situations in a
risk-free environment. For some classes
there will be homework assignments to be completed. My philosophy is that the classroom in a
course like this should be a learning laboratory. I don’t consider this to be my course
or your course, but
OUR course. In that vein, I will frequently not assume
the traditional role of
professor-lecturer and
disseminator of information.
Since class only meets once per week,
missing class means missing an entire week.
Please email me prior to when you must miss and why.
Because of the uniqueness of what we
sometimes do in class, occasionally students ask if a spouse or friend can
attend class. I welcome visitors, but
would also appreciate e-mail notice.
MBA Grading Policy
The following grading system has been
adopted for both first year core classes and second year classes at the Kelley
School of Business. The targeted
distribution of grades in each class is:
Category Reported Targeted
Designation Grade Distribution
Distinguished A 10-15%
Excellent A- 25-35%
High Pass B+ 0-50%
Pass B 0-50%
Marginal Performance B- or C+ 0-20%
Failure F As
Needed
Incomplete I As
Needed
W-516 Grading Parameters
- Pass - come to class, participate, and
complete all the assignments, and demonstrate some examples of high pass
work.
- Excellent - the above plus an excellent
performance on the final exercise.
- Distinguished - the
above plus distinguished performance on the final exercise.
Course Evaluation
Attendance/participation/homework 20%
Scenario presentation 20%
Journal 30%
Final Exercise 30%
Book of Your Choice
Select a book that deals with some aspect
of change. You should select a book that
you are interested in reading. Make
references to what you are reading as you make entries in your journal. At the end of this syllabus I have a list of
recommended books for your perusal. Do
not limit yourself to this list. Read a
book you WANT to read.
Visit Barnes and Noble, Borders, and the
IU bookstore to review books you can scan.
Log onto Amazon.com. Many of the
books have a helpful synopsis. Some also
have reader reviews. Some suggestions
can be found on the last page of the syllabus.
Course Outline
The following pages list the general
topic for each day plus reading assignments.
There are several weeks where there will be handouts. Periodically I will post material on the
web. Handouts and web material will be
available one week prior to when it is discussed.
|
Date |
Questions Addressed |
Assignment |
|
9/3 |
What
is organizational development? What
will we cover and why? How
can you tailor the course to your own needs? |
Begin
your journals this week. |
|
9/10 |
What
is a healthy organization? What
is an unhealthy organization? Can
we diagnose a “disease”? Is
pain necessary? If so, why? Why
do organizations deny that they are unhealthy? |
Handouts
with homework for discussion. Why
Good Companies Go Bad (ER), (Internet) |
|
9/17 |
What
does the future hold? How
will events/trends affect organizations? What
is scenario building? How
can scenario building help us prepare for the future? How
do you go about preparing scenarios? What
are the parameters of your scenario presentation? |
Thinking
like a
Futurist (ER) Handout
The
Essentials of Scenario Writing (ER) |
|
9/20 |
Note
that this is Friday |
Email
to me the book of your choice. |
|
9/24 |
What
data do we need before making changes? How
do we determine the quality of data? When
do you know you have enough data? What
if you do not have time to collect data and must forge ahead? ******************************************************* What
are paradigms? Why
do we have them? Why
are they helpful to us and to organizations? When
do we know they are dysfunctional? |
Handout The
Breakdown of the Old Paradigm
(ER)
Paradigms
(ER) |
|
10/1 |
What
is a change agent? What
skills do they need? What
roles do they play? What
pitfalls do you need to be aware of? ********************************************************
Do
I know what is expected of me at work? Do
I have the opportunity to do my best? Does
anyone care? Am
I making progress? |
Chapter
1 and 2 (text) Change
Agents: Who are They? (ER) Rules
of Thumb for Change Agents(ER) The
Executive as a Coach (ER) Bob
Knowling’s Change Manual (ER) |
|
10/8 |
Scenario
Presentations |
Read
in selected book |
|
10/15 |
Scenario
Presentations |
Read
in selected book |
|
10/22 |
Scenario
Presentations |
Read
in selected book |
|
10/29 |
Why
do organizations resist change? Why
do we resist change? When
are we willing to accept change? What
roles can we play as the change agent? ******************************************************** Can
I change or am I who I am? What
do I really know? What
can I do? What
is my passion? |
Chapters
3 and 4 (text) |
|
11/5 |
What
are the critical issues in managing change? What
kinds of problems can you expect? ****************************************************** What
motivates me, her, him? How
do I manage my weakness? What
would be my level of incompetence? |
Chapters
5 and 6 (text) Handout |
|
11/12 |
What
is success? What
are acceptable/unacceptable tradeoffs? How
can we and why don’t we learn from mistakes? Journals
are due today. |
Successful
Change Program begin with Results (ER) Leading
Change: Why Transformation Efforts
Fail (ER) |
|
11/19 |
What
is a web case? What
are the objectives of this case? How
do you navigate through the case elements? What
needs to be your commitment to your cohort? |
Finish
Episode One and Two this week. |
|
Week
of 11/25 |
Work
within your cohorts on the web case. I
will be online everyday. |
Finish
Episode Three this week. |
|
12/3 |
Wrap
up of the web case. Course wrap-up. Journals
returned. |
~~~ |
|
12/10 |
Review
for the final exercise. |
|
|
12/17 |
Final
Exercise5-7 pm in regular classroom
|
~~~ |
AdditionalReadings
-- W-516
Argris, C.
Overcoming Organizational Defenses
(Easy
read by a well-known Harvard Professor)
Bellman, G. M., Getting Things Done When You Are NOT in
Charge
(National bestseller.
Nice companion book to Break All the Rules.)
Cohen, A.R., and Bradford , D.
L, Influence without Authority
(An
older book, pretty basic, but the topic is important.)
Collins, J., Good to Great
(National bestseller.
Collins also wrote Built to Last.)
Duck, J. D., The Change
Monster
(Rich description of change from years with the Boston Consulting
Group.)
French, W. L. and Bell
(Classic text. Excellent overview of the OD field.)
Hamel, G., Leading the Revolution
(Fortune
magazine says
Harvard Review Series, Crisis Management
(Articles by CEOs and professors, including our own Idie Kesner.)
Katzenback, J.
R. Real Change Leaders
(Practioner book with lots of industry
examples of change.)
Kimberly,
J. R. and Quinn, R. E. Managing Organizational Transitions
(Older, but still popular collection of some classic readings in
OD.)
Kotter, J.
P., Leading Change
(Classic book about both leadership and change.)
Kotter, J.
P. The Heart of Change
(Lots of good ideas from people on the front line.)
Maurer, R., Beyond the Wall of Resistance
(Comprehensive treatment of the resistance to change.)
Mitroff,
I.I., Business NOT as Usual
(Well-documented
book on why old paradigms won’t work.)
O’Toole, J. Leading Change
(Chuck
full of lots of examples. Part nuts and bolts & part
philosophy.)
Peck, M. S. A World
Waiting to be Born
(A
second best seller after The Road Less Traveled)
Price Waterhouse Change Team, Better Change
(A huge fairly slick presentation~~ some neat graphics.)
Ray, M. R. and Rinzler, A, The New Paradigm of Business
(Collection of short articles written by well-known persons in OD.)
Ringland, G., Scenario Planning
(An excellent book giving a variety of approaches to scenario
building.)
Senge, P.,
et. al., The Dance of Change
(A fairly good text-like read. Senge wrote the
Fifth Discipline.)
Smither, R.
D. and Houston
(Standard text. Lots
of examples on many topics relevant to OD)
Tichy, N. M.
and Sherman, S. Control Your Destiny or
Someone Else Will
(Principles
used by Jack Welsh to revolutionize G. E.)