Thomas Gerrity

MGMT7730 - Managing Org Change

This course focuses on the nature and process of organization change, and how to be successful as a leader, implementer, and recipient of change. It emphasizes the forces for change, the change implementation process, the skills of successful change leaders, and the behavioral theories and management practices of how individuals and organizations change. All of this will help you to better diagnose, orchestrate, and implement the change agendas of organizations. After the initial session that introduces many of the topics and discussions of the course, Module 1 presents the foundations of successful transformations. The goal here is for you to get an understanding for how these major types of transformations unfold, how the motivation for change affects the type of transformation, how well the changes were instituted, sources of resistance, and how leaders are involved in the whole endeavor. Module II focuses on applications to learn the ingredients for successful change management and implement concepts from Module 1. We will start with a merger integration implementation. Next, we you will make a series of decisions to manage recipients of change by focusing on downsizing and privatization. Finally, you will test your implementation acumen in a real world-based simulation. Module III has two parts. The first is designed to expand your insights and apply them to the experiences of early career professionals who initiate, drive, and experience change as members of larger organizations or as startup founders. The course ends on how to build organizations that have the capacity to successfully change. To teach this course I use cases, simulations, and readings that integrate findings from academic research with practitioner experiences and insights. Importantly, the value of the class is maximized when you integrate your own experiences, and I am excited in anticipation of the discussions and debates we will have.