UWA Handbook 2025

Unit Overview

Description

This unit is concerned with organisational change and transformation, and focuses on the major challenges facing organisations in a rapidly changing, technologically challenging and increasingly complex and competitive global business environment. Topics covered may include organisational life cycles, longevity and effectiveness; managing and changing organisational cultures; leading and managing change; organisational (re)structure and (re)design; change management tools and interventions; evaluating change management strategies; creativity and innovation as drivers of change; organisational learning and the Learning Organisation; managing knowledge and intellectual capital; new technologies as drivers of change in organisations; and new and emerging organisational forms.

Credit

6 points

Offering
(see Timetable)

Availability	Location	Mode
Non-standard teaching period	UWA (Perth)	Face to face
Trimester 3	Online	Online flexible

Outcomes

Students are able to (1) describe how to implement strategic changes successfully, how to evaluate and measure the impact of organisational change and why change management programs often fail; (2) use at least two current conceptual models to describe a change occurring in an organisation; (3) describe at least four different interventions and four practical tools that can be used to facilitate individual, group and organisational change and the limitations of each approach; (4) describe the cycle that human beings undergo during change and the relevant feelings and behaviours that relate to the resistance and commitment to change; (5) describe sustainability as a contradiction or a necessity within organisations; and (6) describe the ways organisational change can be measured and evaluated.

Assessment

Indicative assessments in this unit are as follows: (1) class participation; (2) online tests; and (3) group case study. Further information is available in the unit outline.

Student may be offered supplementary assessment in this unit if they meet the eligibility criteria.

Unit Coordinator(s)

Barb Wood (Trimester 1) and Dee Roche (NSTP)

Unit rules

Prerequisites

MGMT5501 Organisational Behaviour.
and
enrolment in

one of the following courses: Master of Business Administration (coursework).
Master of Business Administration (coursework and dissertation).
Graduate Certificate in Leadership.
or approval from The Business School only, which will be determined with regard to relevant documented professional work experience.

Contact hours

intensive period—lectures/seminars/workshops: 5 sessions (7–8 hour each) over 7 weeks
trimester—lectures/seminars/workshops: up to 3 hours per week.

Note

This Unit is delivered in a fully online mode with weekly group and individual deliverables required to be completed and posted by the end of each week (Sunday). These deliverables are assessed as part of your class participation mark together with the SPARK PLUS group assessment to monitor the collaboration between group and self.
Each group will be allocated by Week 2 and will comprise a diverse mix of experience and professions. Once the Online Unit is opened at the end of Semester One, please ensure you are familiar with Blackboard and all the embedded facilities within the platform.