MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF ECONOMIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
BA 4226 - FALL 2016
MANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
Instructor: Dr. ar Topal
Office and office hours: H118, by appointment
E-mail and office phone: ctopal@metu.edu.tr, 2102036
Website: http://blog.metu.edu.tr/ctopal/ba4226/
Course credit, day/time, and place: 3 credits, Monday-Wednesday, 10.15-11.30, G108
Description
This course examines organizational change theories and their implications in
organizational practice. Specific questions addressed in this course are why and how
organizations change and what changes in organizations, how we can understand organizational
change is needed, and how we can promote and sustain organizational change.
Relevance
Organizational change is critical in todays complex and dynamic business environment.
Organizations need to be adaptive in this environment. They should be able to plan ahead for
radical environmental transformations or react to minor and major changes to survive and thrive.
Managers need to understand whether environmental and organizational conditions are ripe for
change. Depending on the specific change type needed, they should be able to develop specific
strategies and tactics, using organizational resources. This is one of the most, if not the most,
challenging processes for managers. Thus, the students as would-be managers need to develop at
least a basic understanding of organizational change.
Course objective
At the end of the course, the students will have acquired the knowledge of change
concepts and practices based in different organizational change paradigms and improved their
teamwork skills through interactive learning.
Course outcomes
Upon completion of the course, the students will be able to
understand different organizational change paradigms and their implications.
explain reasons, sources, and types of organizational change.
discuss implementation, resistance, and maintenance processes in organizational change.
link organizational vision and change.
know about change communication.
show improved teamwork skills developed through the group project and activities.
Textbook
The following text is required for the course:
Palmer, I., Dunford, R. and Akin, G. 2009. Managing Organizational Change: A Multiple
Perspectives Approach (2nd edition). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Assessment
The following percentages will be applied to the coursework:
Midterm 1
25%
Midterm 2
25%
Project presentation and report
20%
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Group participation-lecture
5%
Group participation-case
15% (1.5% for each case)
Individual participation-lecture/case 15%
Total
105%
Grades and notes are final and not subject to change. No individual request for
additional study for raising a grade will be accepted. No non-academic criteria such as that
the student works outside and that this is the students last semester will be considered in
grading.
Midterm exams and make-up policy
The midterm exams will measure the students degree of knowledge of the conceptual
material. There will be two exams. The questions might be of multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank,
and true-false as well as short- and long-answer types. The students may write a make-up
exam if they apply to the instructor within one week, at the latest, after the date of the exam
unattended with a legitimate, documented, excuse. Make-up exams will be of essay type.
There will be no make-up for group or individual participation studies in the class. There will be
no make-up for the cases missed.
Lecture and case participation
In each lecture, the key points will be briefly explained and, depending on the availability
of time, the students are asked to participate in a group discussion and then in a general class
discussion individually. Group and individual discussions will be separately evaluated. Individual
participation grade will measure the students individual skills to interpret and criticize the
conceptual material and relate it to real life cases. Group participation grade will measure the
students skills to team up to interpret and criticize the conceptual material and relate it to real life
cases. The students are required to read the assigned chapter before the class and bring the book.
Beginning with the second chapter, there is an end-of-chapter case for each chapter in the
book. Each week will be divided into two parts, one for the lecture on the chapter and one for the
discussion on the case. The students are required to read the case beforehand and participate in
group and class discussions on the case questions. Case participations will be separately
evaluated. Discussion groups must be composed of 2 students. If a student is observed by the
instructor as busy with something unrelated, s/he will get a zero mark for the case without
warning. Also, if an in-class discussion group includes the name of an absent student on the
answer sheet, the group members will lose their all group and individual participation marks and
the instructor will evaluate whether to forward the case to the attention of the disciplinary
committee.
Project presentation and report
In a group of at most 4 students, the students are required to find and study an
organization that went or has been going through a change process. The organization must be
located in Ankara and allow the students to talk to its managers or employees in person. A
project based mainly on firm documents or websites is not acceptable. One or two
interviews are required. In their study, the students will briefly describe the organization and
the change process in 2 pages at most and interpret the process by using the change
implementation perspectives (chapter 7 and chapter 8) in 8 pages at most. In an appendix, the
study must also provide information about interviews and interviewees such as how long the
interviews take, what positions the interviewees occupy, when the interviews are conducted, etc.
while keeping the identities confidential.
Please explicitly relate your findings and observations to the conceptual material
explained in the Chapters 7 and 8. Use only the material discussed in the class; do not use
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the concepts and models not discussed in the class. Also do as much analysis as possible; in
other words, use as many models/concepts as possible and keep the number of
examples/explanations to a minimum or a few sentences only.
The results of the study will be presented in the class and submitted as a report (in
both paper and electronic format) to the instructor on the first day of the presentations. The
presentation must take 8 to 10 minutes at most and include very briefly the story of the change
and 5 main points in terms of organizational change theories and concepts discussed in the
Chapters 7 and 8. The project not presented will be graded with zero.
There will be 1 point penalty for each day of late submission. The report will be at most
10 pages (excluding the cover page, references, and appendix) to be typed in MSWord, doublespaced, and in 12-point Times New Roman font, with the name, surname, and student number of
the group members and the report name on the cover page. References (AOM or APA style, see
my blog) should be provided in an appropriate format if used. Set all page margins to 1 inch (or
2.5 cm). All the group members will get the group mark. If the group will have a different
allocation, the students should inform the instructor about this within one week at the latest after
the submission date.
Civility
Civility is a requirement. Developing and maintaining a course environment conducive to
learning is the responsibility of the students as much as the instructor. Some important points are:
Be in class on time. Do not be late. You may not be let in after the instructor.
Turn your cellular phones off or on the silent mode.
Turn your laptops off unless you use them to take notes for the course.
Avoid engaging in side conversations that might disrupt the class.
Use an impersonal professional language in discussions.
The students who might need special arrangements to meet the course requirements
can consult the instructor and the website http://engelsiz.metu.edu.tr.
Grading
Course grades will be assigned according to the table below reproduced from the Article
24 of the academic rules and regulations for undergraduate studies.
Percentage
Course Grade
Coefficient
90-100
AA
4
85-89
BA
3.5
80-84
BB
3
75-79
CB
2.5
70-74
CC
2
65-69
DC
1.5
60-64
DD
1
50-59
FD
0.5
49 and below
FF
0
METU academic code of ethics
One of the basic principles of Middle East Technical University is to develop and
humanitarian and moral values of its students for the good of society. Within this context, the
students of METU are expected to adopt the following ethical values, and behave according to
these principles:
1) Students must do all the work on their own.
2) Students must not cheat or help others to do so.
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3) Students must not deceive the academic staff or help others to do so.
Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:
1) Cheating
2) Deception
3) Plagiarism
Violations of the academic code of ethics may result in disciplinary actions, ranging
between a Warning and Dismissal from the university.
Academic regulations
See the regulations for undergraduate studies at:
http://www.oidb.metu.edu.tr/yonetmelik/yonet/lisans_yonetmelik.html
Tentative schedule
Week 1:
Introduction
Stories of change
Week 2:
Images of managing change
Case study: Green Mountain Resort
Week 3:
Why organizations change
Case study: Intel
Week 4:
What changes in organizations
Case study: Nestle
Week 5:
Diagnosis for change
Case study: Boeing
Week 6:
Resistance to change
Case study: Perrier
Week 7:
MIDTERM-1 NOVEMBER 14
Implementing change-1
Week 8:
Case study: DuPont
Implementing change-2
Week 9:
Case study: British Airways
Linking vision and change
Week 10:
Case study: Mentor Graphics
Strategies for communicating change
Case study: Cheryl Ways and Agilent Technology
Week 11:
Skills for communicating change
Case study: Tyco
Sustaining change
Case study: Challenger and Columbia
Week 12:
MIDTERM-2 DECEMBER 19
NO CLASS: Free time for the project study
Week 13:
Project presentations
Project presentations