Using report format (see 'Assessment Criteria for presentation' and 'Rationale for the use of report format' in this Subject Outline), complete the following tasks.

1. To what extent are the political approach to organisational change and the organisational development approach similar and different? Outline the potential ethical issues that can emerge from using the political approach and indicate in general terms how these problems might be avoided.

2. Which aspect of the political nature of organisations needs to be taken into consideration in a program of organisational change within an organisation?

3. Using an organisation (or section of an organisation) familiar to you, apply the concepts in the literature to write a concise political diagnosis of the organisation (or section) that would provide an overview for a change agent.
Rationale
Assignment has been designed to test your ability to achieve the objectives related to Topics 1 to 3 listed in the learning outcomes for this subject, repeated below:
Topic 1: A political approach to organisational change
Topic 2: Power politics in organisations
Topic 3: Diagnosing power

• Learning objectives

- be able to describe the characteristics of a political approach to organisational change and how it differs from an organisational development approach;
- be able to explain concepts and issues associated with the exercise of power and politics in organisations;
- be able to explain in some detail the steps involved in the ethical use of a political approach to organisational change including diagnosing power and politics, implementing political strategies, using a political approach to institutionalising change and evaluating the outcomes of the political approach;
- be able to critically evaluate the ethical use of a political approach to organisational change.
Generic skills for this subject include:

1. being able to use the Study Guide and readings to work through the subject topics methodically to gain an understanding of each topic and meet the objectives set for each topic
2. reading the text references, supplied readings and some of the online references and taking notes on this material
3. being able to use the Library search engine and data bases to locate suitable references for reading
4. being able to answer the review questions provided
5. being able clear concise responses to the assessment tasks set, including the use of report format where required
6. being able to prepare a bibliography/ list of references for each assessment item using the American Psychological Society style correctly.