Organisational Change

The aim of this Master class is to acquire knowledge and practical insights into how organisations ensure organisational change and strategic renewal in order to grasp opportunities and cope with environmental threats. Upon completion of the Master class, participants will have gained knowledge on, among others, different types of change, various means, techniques and tools used to pursue change, dilemmas facing managers in change trajectories, factors impeding strategic and organisational change, roles of the different actors involved in change trajectories, and effective ways of aligning employees in support of a change. Participants will also develop skills and learn tools that allow them to apply these insights to actual cases.

Many organizations at one point or another have to make strategic organizational changes. Such changes may stem from developments, trends, and opportunities or threats in their market and institutional environments. Whatever the actual origin of such changes, change itself represents clear challenges to organizations in terms of how it can be best conceptualized and understood, and how changes in business models, routines or practices may be implemented and sustained over time. Strategic change often involves a disruption of the status quo and of established routines, and it may therefore trigger controversy and confusion with internal and external stakeholder groups. The masterclass will focus in particular on how you, as a professional or manager, can define and understand the nature of different changes, and how you can use communication to frame and justify particular changes to gain support from employees.