Reference no: EM132235919

Assignment 1

For this assignment select one theory related to change management and critically analyse it.

When you are asked to critical analyse anything what you are being asked for is a systematic evaluation of the effectiveness for something. So, what it does well and what it does poorly. Even the best theories and concepts can be critically analysed from some angle as we do not have one theory that can explain everything to do with change management or that fits every context. Critical analysis is essentially a three-step process of asking questions about something in terms of:

• What something is;
• How it works;
• How it compares to other ‘somethings' so as to make a judgement about its value or significance.

Doing critical analysis means moving beyond a descriptive way of writing. Clearly there is some work to do to describe what a theory is and how it works, but the analysis comes in your interpretation of this. This means that an essay requires a strong argument running throughout for one interpretation as against other possible interpretations. It should have a principal argument, clearly set out in your introduction, which runs throughout your essay. This is what you are arguing for. You will have subsidiary arguments that support this argument or criticise counter arguments. The term ‘counter argument' means any reasonable, evidence based argument that could be used to criticise or refute your principal argument. Remember critical analysis should be fun! This is your chance to say what you think about a set of ideas, but you must back up your opinions with supporting arguments and specific details from the literature.

Suggested structure

You do not have to follow this structure precisely, although given the limited number of words in the assignment this is probably a helpful way to set out the material. All assignments should have an introduction and a conclusion at the very least and you will find that using subheadings is a very helpful way to signpost the argument that you are seeking to set out. I have also set out an approximation of the sort of number of words that you may wish to assign to a particular section. Do not follow this slavishly, but this should be used to illustrate the rough proportions of the essay components.

Introduction (200 words)
You are expected to write an introduction that includes a clear argument/critique in relation to your question. Further, you should outline the main areas you will discuss in the body of the paper.

Summary of theory (500 words)
You need to provide a brief description of the theory you have selected and the key features of it. It is not enough to simply say I am going to use, for example, Lewin's change management model. You need to spell out what this theory is over a few lines. What are the main ideas here? What ideas inspire the theory?

Analysis (500 words)
In this section you should give your analysis of the theory. This involves giving an account of what about the theory is good and where the weakness are. You should draw on other literature to do this - this can be either theoretical or empirical (applied applications) material. This isn't just about saying something is bad, it is about demonstrating where the limits of ideas lie. For example, you might be looking at a theory that makes particular assumptions about how a culture or accountability within an organization works, but you wouldn't use it in your organisational context because the Army/health services/private organisations work under different sets of conditions to those assumed. To re-cap, you can critique a theory drawing on the literature and the ideas of others who have written critically about ideas, or you can formulate your own critique on the basis that the context that you are looking to apply a theory within has different ways of working.

Conclusion (200 words)
You are expected to sum up the essay by highlighting the key points made in the body of the essay and restating your argument.

Assignment 2

You can choose one of the cases that we have worked with in the subject or another case that you have found through your independent research or that you have experience of. Where you draw on a case that is written and is in the literature you should make sure to reference it in your assignment. You may also wish to submit a copy of it as an appendix if it is one that you believe the marker may not be familiar with it. You can draw on a case that is from within your own organization and is not formally documented, but you will need to work hard to ensure that all of the relevant details and background appear in the assignment. If you are in doubt about a case to use then feel free to pose a question in the Q&A section on Moodle.

We will talk about case analysis during the subject and will have practiced this process in groups for assignment two. From this you will see that case study analysis is not merely about summarizing a case. It should identify key issues and problems, outline and assess alternative courses of action, and draw appropriate conclusions. The case study analysis can be broken down into the following steps:

1. Identify the most important facts surrounding the case.
2. Identify the key issue or issues.
3. Specify alternative courses of action.
4. Evaluate each course of action.
5. Recommend the best course of action.

Below you will find more details about what each step involves.

• Identify the most important facts surrounding the case - Read the case several times to become familiar with the information it contains. Pay attention to the information in any accompanying exhibits, tables, or figures. Many case scenarios, as in real life, present a great deal of detailed information. Some of these facts are more relevant than others for problem identification. Underline and then list the most important facts and figures that would help you define the central problem or issue. If key facts and numbers are not available, you can make assumptions, but these assumptions should be reasonable given the situation. The "correctness" of your conclusions may depend on the assumptions you make.

• Identify the key issue or issues - Use the facts provided by the case to identify the key issue or issues facing the organsation you are studying. Many cases present multiple issues or problems. Identify the most important and separate them from more trivial issues. State the major problem or challenge facing the company. You should be able to describe the problem or challenge in one or two sentences. You should be able to explain how this problem affects the strategy or performance of the organization. You will need to explain why the problem occurred. Does the problem or challenge facing the organisation comes from a changing environment, new opportunities, a declining market share, inefficient internal or external business processes or some other reason?

• Specify alternative courses of action - List the courses of action the organization can take to solve its problem or meet the challenge it faces. Are new technologies, business processes, organizational structures, or management behavior required? What changes to organizational processes would be required by each alternative? What management policy would be required to implement each alternative? Remember, there is a difference between what an organization "should do" and what that organization actually "can do". Some solutions are too expensive or operationally difficult to implement, and you should avoid solutions that are beyond the organization's resources. Identify the constraints that will limit the solutions available. Is each alternative executable given these constraints?

• Evaluate each course of action - Evaluate each alternative using the facts and issues you identified earlier, given the conditions and information available. Identify the costs and benefits of each alternative. Ask yourself "what would be the likely outcome of this course of action? State the risks as well as the rewards associated with each course of action. Is your recommendation feasible from a technical, operational, and financial standpoint? Be sure to state any assumptions on which you have based your decision.

• Recommend the best course of action- State your choice for the best course of action and provide a detailed explanation of why you made this selection. You may also want to provide an explanation of why other alternatives were not selected. Your final recommendation should flow logically from the rest of your case analysis and should clearly specify what assumptions were used to shape your conclusion. There is often no single "right" answer, and each option is likely to have risks as well as rewards.

Suggested structure
1. Identify the most important facts surrounding the case.
2. Identify the key issue or issues.
3. Specify alternative courses of action.
4. Evaluate each course of action.
5. Recommend the best course of action.

Introduction (300 words)
You are expected to write an introduction that includes a clear argument/critique in relation to your question. Further, you should outline the main areas you will discuss in the body of the paper.

Overview of case (500 words)
What are the key details of the case? What change is being made and what are the drivers of this? Is this a large change? Draw on the literature in helping you to quantify changes, drivers of change etc.

If you are critically analyzing a change process that has been documented, you should also include some detail about what happened and what the implications of this were.

Analysing the case (1500 words - split into 2 or 3 subsections)
This section will be structured into a number of subheadings where you deal with different aspects of the case in terms of what you would do differently or what your strategy is. You will not be able to cover entire change processes within the words you have available for this assignment. So focus on one or two aspects that you think are the most relevant to this case given the background that you established earlier. (As a worked example of this see the Victorian Police change from week one. Notice how the focus in this analysis is mostly around culture - even though there are many other aspects of the change processes that could have been explored).

Be sure to support your observations and recommendations with reference to relevant academic material.

Conclusion (200 words)
You are expected to sum up the essay by highlighting the key points made in the body of the essay and restating your argument.

Attachment:- Assignments.zip