Developing Organisational Insight to Lead Change
Overview:
In today’s challenging economic climate organisations are under pressure to implement change initiatives is search of improved efficiency and productivity.
Despite the best intentions of those leading change, many of these initiatives will fail to deliver the desired results because they are based on a highly selective view of organisations that sees them as ‘machines’, whose problems can be solved through the application of technical and/or structural solutions. The machine metaphor is just one of a range for understanding organisations, each of which provides a valuable but partial view of the change process.
This course harnesses the power of metaphor to provide change agents with the ability to gain fresh insight into the challenges of leading and introducing sustainable change in today’s difficult economic times.
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Who should attend:
Organisational change is encountered by all in the workforce. This course is aimed at those who are, or plan to be, managing change in an organisational setting.
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Learning objectives:
- Understand why organisational change initiatives persistently fail to deliver the desired results
- Recognise the limitations of a mechanistic view of organisations
- Enhance your ability to view organisations from a different perspective
- Gain deeper insights into the challenges of organisational change
- Develop better resources for successful change programmes and implement them effectively
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Course content:
Why do most change initiatives fail?
- The engineering legacy in management
- The limits of technical solutions to organisational problems
Metaphors of organisations
- Why metaphor?
- The challenge of metaphor
Organisations as machines
- A science of management?
- Bureaucracy and its relevance for today
Organisations as organisms
- Organisations as open systems
- Contingency approaches
Organisations as cultures
- Decoding culture
- Challenges of culture change
Organisations as psychic prisons
- Organisations as social constructions
- Unlocking the psychic prison
Organisations in flux and transformation
- Chaos and complexity
- Systems dynamics
Harnessing the power of metaphor
Rethinking organisational change
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Course format:
This is a two-day course that places emphasis on the practical application of the concepts covered.
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Presenters:
John Brocklesby is Professor of Management Studies at the Victoria Management School (VMS). He is Vice-president of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management, Director of Research at VMS, and a current member of the Tertiary Education Commission’s Business and Economics panel. His main research interest is in the new sciences of complexity, and he publishes mainly in systems journals. His consulting interests are in the areas of organisational design and collaboration across organisations.
Dr Todd Bridgman is a Lecturer in Organisational Behaviour at VMS. He completed his PhD in Organisation Studies at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. Prior to that, he was a lecturer in the Department of Management and Employment Relations at the University of Auckland. Todd has taught post-experience courses in Organisation Behaviour at both Cambridge and Victoria universities.
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Limit per course: 18
We offer these dates:
Date:
Tuesday 1 - Wednesday 2 June
Time: 9.00am-4.30pm
Venue:
Downtown venue at Pipitea campus to be advised
Fee: $1341 (excl. GST)
The above Early Bird fee is available if booked on or before Tuesday 4 May. Full fee: $1490 (ex. GST)
or
Date:
Tuesday 16 & Wednesday 17 November
Time: 9.00am-4.30pm
Venue:
Downtown venue at Pipitea campus to be advised
Fee: $1341 (excl. GST)
The above Early Bird fee is available if booked on or before Tuesday 19 October. Full fee: $1490 (ex. GST)