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2019/2020  KAN-CSOLO1801U  Organizing Change

English Title
Organizing Change

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Quarter
Start time of the course Autumn, First Quarter
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for MSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Christian De Cock - Department of Organization (IOA)
Main academic disciplines
  • Management
  • Organisation
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 21-06-2019

Relevant links
Learning objectives
The OC and SI courses aim to offer a practical and realistic approach to the complexity and dynamism of organizational contexts, whilst engaging seriously with theories of organizational change, strategy and identity. They seek to facilitate students in developing an understanding of the multifaceted nature of change, strategy and identity in a way that enables the making of practical judgements in an informed way and inspires imagination for responsible action. Upon the courses’ completion, we expect the students to be able to fulfill the following learning objectives.
  • Discuss how identity provides a foundation for strategy and how it influences opportunities for organizations to achieve competitive advantage
  • Discuss how strategic processes may influence the construction of a new organizational identity and the organizational commitment to identity
  • Relate theories on strategy and identity to each other, and apply them in order to analyze issues of relevance to strategy, identity and organizational change processes
  • Critically reflect on implications of the theories of organizing change for strategy and identity
  • Account for how theories in both courses can be used to understand the dynamics of organizational change and the implications for managing and working in organizations
  • Explain the roles of narrative, sensemaking and commitment to organizing change, strategy and organizational identity
  • Connect theories and methods for researching organizational change, strategy and identity in the context of a concrete organizational situation.
Course prerequisites
Organizing Change must be taken together with the course Strategy and Identity as they have a common exam
Examination
Strategy and Identity in Conjunction with Organizing Change:
Exam ECTS 15
Examination form Oral exam based on written product

In order to participate in the oral exam, the written product must be handed in before the oral exam; by the set deadline. The grade is based on an overall assessment of the written product and the individual oral performance.
Individual or group exam Individual oral exam based on written group product
Number of people in the group 4-5
Size of written product Max. 15 pages
Assignment type Project
Duration
Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
20 min. per student, including examiners' discussion of grade, and informing plus explaining the grade
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) Internal examiner and external examiner
Exam period Autumn
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
If a student does not pass the regular exam, the examiner of the ordinary exam decides whether a new, revised or the same project must be handed in by the submission date for the re-exam.

If a student is absent from the oral exam due to documented illness but has handed in the written group product she/he does not have to submit a new product for the re-take. However the group product must be uploaded once again on Digital Exam.

If a whole group fails the oral exam, they must hand in a revised product for the re-exam.
Description of the exam procedure

In the oral exam, the written report is used as basis for the discussion. The examination will cover both the report itself and the theory applied. 
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

Change is a key word in business and management, and enables discussion of, for example, topics such as radical versus incremental change, disruption, and the use of history (continuity) in processes of change. The overall aim of the course is to introduce the students to the dynamics of change in organizations through providing them with knowledge of theories explaining change processes and using those theories to understand the actual challenges of organizing in organizations. Selected theories and examples are specifically chosen to address current developments in business and industry, whilst the course also links theories to methods for studying organizational phenomena.

Different people involved in the same set of organizational practices may have quite different stories about an ostensibly the ‘same’ set of events. Therefore, whilst there are many tools and techniques that pertain to change situations, choosing what to do and how to do it, is not straightforward. It makes the issues of narratives and sense making central in the management of change efforts. The course views organizing as the process of applying various means to create commitment among people towards organizational change narratives. The idea of ‘narrative’ is closely linked to the notions of strategy and identity, which are taught in the parallel Strategy and Identity Course. The course also explains how various types of framing of change processes influence the outcome of change.

Overlap with Strategy and Identity
This course overlaps with Strategy and Identity (SI) in several ways. Both courses focus on theories and conceptual frameworks that elaborate the processes underpinning strategy, identity and organizing hereby stressing the active role of organizational actors. While SI focuses on how actors set the direction for the trajectory of the organization, OC focuses on the various mechanisms in maintaining and transforming organizations. Taken together the two courses will explain how strategies and identities are open to change and how organizing processes serve to hold them together. Finally, both courses will draw on abductive methods as the foundation for the joint shared student projects.
Description of the teaching methods
Dialogue-based lectures and case discussions. A workshop will be held in conjunction with the Strategy and Identity (SI) course and another joint session will feature practitioners from different types of organizations.
Feedback during the teaching period
The OC and SI courses offer several feedback opportunities during the class discussions as well as in dedicated activities. Feedback will be given to the group presentations in the class and during office hours. The student groups will also receive supervision and feedback on their projects’ progress on two occasions. In addition, students will be given the opportunity for individual feedback in a specifically designed feedback session. That session will prepare the students for the writing of their first exam project, which needs to connect theory from both courses with the context of the organizations they have selected for their projects. In particular, it will support the students in creating a line of critical reflection that connects concepts from both courses with the presentations of practitioners (who will participate as guest speakers in the two courses) and articulating a convincing line of argumentation. In addition, this activity also seeks to create an opportunity for students to practice feedback-giving to peers in the context of their project group, which is expected to facilitate the group dynamics associated with the writing of the group project. The feedback provided by both peers and teachers is expected to enhance the quality of the written group project and support the students in their preparation of discussing theory in relation to practice for the oral exam.
Student workload
Teaching 33 hours
Preparation/reading/group work 123 hours
Exam 50 hours
Expected literature

Brown, A. D., Colville, I., & Pye, A. (2015). Making Sense of Sensemaking in Organization Studies. Organization Studies, 36(2), 265-277. doi:10.1177/​0170840614559259

Buchanan, D. (2017). Managing Change. In A. Wilkinson, S. J. Armstrong, & M. Lounsbury (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Management. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/​oxfordhb/​9780198708612.013.18

De Cock, C. (1998). Organisational Change and Discourse: Hegemony, Resistance and Reconstitution. M@n@gement, 1(1), 1-22. http:/​/​repository.essex.ac.uk/​15783/​1/​11DeCock.pdf

De Cock, C., & Sharp, R. J. (2007). Process theory and research: Exploring the dialectic tension. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 23(3), 233-250. doi: https:/​/​doi.org/​10.1016/​j.scaman.2006.05.003

Giorgi, S., Lockwood, C., & Glynn, M. A. (2015). The Many Faces of Culture: Making Sense of 30 Years of Research on Culture in Organization Studies. The Academy of Management Annals, 9(1), 1-54. doi:10.1080/​19416520.2015.1007645

Latour, B. (1999). Pandora's Hope: Essays on the Reality of Science Studies. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University. (chapter 2). http:/​/​www.bruno-latour.fr/​sites/​default/​files/​downloads/​53-PANDORA-TOPOFIL-pdf.pdf

Muhr, S. L., De Cock, C., Twardowska, M., & Volkmann, C. (2019). Constructing an entrepreneurial life: liminality and emotional reflexivity in identity work. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 1-16. doi:10.1080/​08985626.2019.1596348

Nicolini, D., Mengis, J., & Swan, J. (2012). Understanding the Role of Objects in Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration. Organization Science, 23(3), 612-629. doi:10.1287/​orsc.1110.0664

Ng, W. & De Cock, C. (2002). ‘Battle in the Boardroom: A Discursive Perspective’, Journal of Management Studies, 39 (1), p.23-49. doi:10.1111/​1467-6486.00281

Salancik, G. R. (1977). Commitment and the control of organizational behavior and belief. In Staw, B.M., Salancik, G.R., (eds.), New directions in organizational behavior. 1–54. Chicago: St. Clair.

Smircich, L.  & Morgan G. (1982) Leadership: The management of meaning. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 3: 257-273. https:/​/​journals.sagepub.com/​doi/​10.1177/​002188638201800303

Timmermans, S., & Tavory, I. (2012). Theory Construction in Qualitative Research: From Grounded Theory to Abductive Analysis. Sociological Theory, 30(3), 167–186. https:/​/​doi.org/​10.1177/​0735275112457914

Vaara, E., Sonenshein, S., & Boje, D. (2016). Narratives as Sources of Stability and Change in Organizations: Approaches and Directions for Future Research. The Academy of Management Annals, 10(1), 495-560. doi:10.1080/​19416520.2016.1120963

Van de Ven, A. H., & Poole, M. S. (2005). Alternative Approaches for Studying Organizational Change. Organization Studies, 26(9), 1377-1404. doi:10.1177/​0170840605056907

Weick, Karl E. (1979). The social psychology of organizing (2nd ed.) New York: Random House. (Ch. 4)

Weick, K., & Quinn, R. E. (1999). Organizational Change and Development. Annual Review of Psychology, 50(1), 361-386. http:/​/​www.ftms.edu.my/​images/​Document/​MOD001182%20-%20IMPROVING%20ORGANISATIONAL%20PERFORMANCE/​change%20Weick%20and%20Quinn.pdf
Last updated on 21-06-2019