Dr Ishan Jalan

This course is available on the MSc in Behavioural Science, MSc in Human Resources and Organisations (Organisational Behaviour), MSc in Organisational and Social Psychology, MSc in Psychology of Economic Life, MSc in Social and Cultural Psychology and MSc in Social and Public Communication. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

What is Organisational Development? With its roots in the human relations movement of the 1950s, OD is aimed at facilitating planned change efforts and interventions, with a view to improve an organisation’s effectiveness and performance.  Drawing from a range of theories, namely behavioural sciences and critical organisation studies, OD adopts a systemic approach to consider both the ‘hard’ and the ’soft’ elements of an organisation. In doing so, it undertakes a deep analysis of needs and goals to help organisations understand their current state, and work towards their desired future state.

Why is Organisational Development (OD) important? Organisations are becoming increasingly complex, more dynamic and faster changing social systems. To confront these changes, organisations need to become nimble, innovative and effective if they are to survive and thrive. 21st century organisations require therefore more flexible organisational structures, new types of leadership and new ways of managing. OD can help organizations navigate this difficult terrain.

This course explores the management of organisational change and development from a theoretical and practical perspective. While the course is strongly informed by key theoretical frameworks, OD comes into its own in application. Students will be actively encouraged to relate key OD theoretical perspectives to current organisational challenges. The aim of the course is, therefore, twofold: first to explore the body of core theories that underpin OD and second, to examine the practice of OD as a 'process' (not a 'product' or a 'programme').

The course will provide also practical hands-on experience. In seminars and workshops students will gain experience on drafting organizational change interventions, thinking about their implementation and evaluating their potential impact in organised contexts.

10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the LT.

Students will be expected to produce 1 essay in the LT.

Detailed references and class topics are distributed in the first lecture of the series. The following represents key readings covering some of the topics discussed in the course:

Alvesson, M., & Sveningsson, S. (2015). Changing organizational culture: Cultural change work in progress. Routledge.

Argyris, C. (2008). Teaching smart people how to learn. Harvard Business Review Press.

Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2019). Making sense of change management: A complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.

Deszca, G., Ingols, C., & Cawsey, T. F. (2019). Organizational change: An action-oriented toolkit. Sage Publications.

Gallos, J. V. (2006). Organization development: A Jossey-Bass reader. Jossey-Bass.

Gioia, D. A., & Chittipeddi, K. (1991). Sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation. Strategic management journal, 12(6), 433-448.

Weick, K. E. (1995). Sensemaking in organizations (Vol. 3). Sage.

Western, S. (2019). Leadership: A critical text. SAGE Publications Limited.

Porras, J. I., & Robertson, P. J. (1992). Organizational development: Theory, practice, and research. In M. D. Dunnette & L. M. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 719–822). Consulting Psychologists Press.

Essay (100%, 3000 words) in the LT.