Assessment 2: Organisational Change Report 50% · Aim: The report is designed to assess your…
Assessment 2:
Organisational Change Report 50%
· Aim: The report is designed to assess your knowledge of the formal concepts that will be presented in the lectures and then applied in seminars.
· Length: 1800 – 2000 words
· Due: Week 12 – on day of class.
Topic: Change in Two workplaces
Students are required to write a report on workplace change using previous literature and interview data
· Conduct interviews with two people who have worked in an industry or workplace for 10 years or so. These interviews should be brief and directed to the changes in the work that the interviewee has observed over this period of time. A small number of open-ended interview questions should be prepared and trialled before the interviews. In Week 4 we will discuss the topic of organisational change and you will also have an opportunity to develop suitable interview questions.
· Changes may include technological change and/or organisational change and such changes need to be summarised in your report. However the aim of the interview should be to see how such internally or externally driven changes have affected the social fabric of the workplace and the conduct of the work. Consider even incidental or trivial changes such as discussed in the reading The Decline of the Tea Lady (Stewart, 2004).
· The report should focus the reader upon key issues that were addressed in the interview. You will need to research literature on changes in the workplace over the recent past and this should set the scene for the interview content and the discussion that would follow as the final part of the interview. Some recommended references will be provided on VU Collaborate.
· Your report will consist of the following sections:
o Title
o Abstract/Executive Summary (100 words)
o Introduction (Overview of previous literature regarding change in Australian workplaces) (400-500 words). Note: This is a section, not merely an introductory paragraph!!!
o Participants Details (The workplaces of the interviewees and their roles within these workplaces) (200 words)
o Findings – what did you learn from the interviews including:
a. Interviewee’s 1’s views on changes (200 + words)
b. Interviewee’s 2’s views on changes (200 + words)
c. How do interviewees’ views on change compare (200 + words)
o Discussion (need to provide a discussion of the previous literature in light of interview findings) (300 + words)
o Conclusion (need to summarise and conclude report) (50 – 100 + words)
o References (6-8 references – majority peer-reviewed journals)
o Appendices – Copy of interview questions and interviewees’ responses
(word count for each section is a guide).
References- 6-8 You can includemajority peer-reviewed journal readings
– Allen et al 2007 uncertainty during organisational change
– Heroid et all 2008 Leadership and employee commitment to change
– Jacobs et al 2006 The fatal smirk
– Jones et al 2008 employee perceptions of organisational change
_ Mack et al 1998 Stress of org change
_ Smith 2005 Achievingreadiness for org change
– Johns, G., & Saks, A. M. (2008). Organizational behaviour. Understanding and managing life at work(7th ed.)Toronto; Pearson Education. (Chapter 16: Organizational change, development and innovation )
-McWilliams, J.H. (2009). Grief and organisational change. Grief Matters, 66-69.
-Stewart, J. (1996) The cult of management and the decline of the Tea Lady. Quadrant, 17-20.
Appendices – Copy of interview questions and interviewees’ responses
· On interview questions, preparation study by Allen, Jimmieson, Bordia, & Irmer (2007)
