Location: Room 10.35 10, Pulteney Street
Telephone: 61 8 83138332
Email: dr.chris.smith@adelaide.edu.au
Course website: www.myuni.adelaide.edu.au

First Intensive:
Date	0900 – 1000	1000 – 1300	1400 – 1530	1530 – 1700
21  March 2016		Lecture	Tutorial	Consultation
22 March 2016	Consultation	Lecture	Tutorial	Consultation
23 March 2018	Consultation	Consultation
24 March 2016	Consultation	Lecture	Tutorial	Consultation
26 March 2016	Consultation	Lecture	Tutorial	Consultation

 

Second Intensive:
Date	0900 - 1000	1000 -1300	1400 - 1530	1530 -1700
25 April 2016		Lecture	Tutorial	Consultation
26 April 2016	Consultation	Lecture	Tutorial	Consultation
27 April 2016	Consulation	Consulation
28 April 2016	Consultation	Lecture	Tutorial	Consultation
29 April 2016	Consultation	Lecture	Tutorial	Consultation

Notes: Consultation times are available for student or lecturer initiated discussions with individuals or groups. They are not compulsory lecture sessions and are based on prior appointments. I.e. they are not ad hoc ‘drop-in’ arrangements.

By the end of this course, students should be able to:
1) Diagnose the dynamics of environmental and organizational change.
2) Identify the major processes and practices that underlie successful and unsuccessful change
3) Critically analyse different frameworks and methods of organizational change.
4) Demonstrate an understanding of the causes of conflict in organisations and different mechanism for its management and resolution.
5) Apply conflict management and concepts and theory to real world situations.

There is no prescribed text for this course but readings have been provided. It is expected that students will research and read beyond the material provided. There is a vast literature on change and conflict and using ‘Google Scholar’ and search terms such as ‘change management’; ‘conflict resolution’; ‘negotiation and conflict’; etc. is a good place to start.

International Journal of Conflict Management
Journal of Change Management
Negotiation journal
Strategic Change

Students are encouraged to read widely to enhance their learning of change and conflict. For wider reading, other sources include academic journals. The list below is by no means comprehensive and is offered as a launching point for additional readings. These journals are available through the Barr Smith Library in online databases.

Academy of Management Executive
Academy of Management Journal
Academy of Management Perspectives
Administrative Science Quarterly
(Harvard Business Review – not peer reviewed)
Human Relations
Journal of Applied Psychology
Journal of Change Management
Journal of Organizational Behaviour
Organization Science
Organization Dynamics

This course is taught in intensive mode. Each day there is a three hour lecture and a one and a quarter hour tutorial. Tutorials are an important component of your learning in this course. Students are expected to attend all classes and ensure that they complete the required exercises and assignments before coming to class. Students are encouraged to actively participate in tutorial discussions as a way of developing sound communication skills.

The University expects full-time students to devote approximately 12 hours a week to each subject they study. The intensive mode of your study means that for each subject you are likely to concentrate your time over the two weeks devoted to the course. However you will need to find time for private study between intensives.

Intensive 1
 
Session 1 Theories and reflections on conflict

Conflict at national, organizational, group and individual levels is an ever-present human dynamic. In this session we examine the concepts and manifestation of conflict in its various forms.
 
Bar-Tal, D. (2000) “From Intractable Conflict Through Conflict Resolution to Reconciliation: Psychological Analysis”, Political Psychology, 21(2): 351-65
Thomas, K.W. (1992) “Conflict and conflict management: Reactions and update” Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13(3): 265-274.
 
Session 2 Conflict in organizations

In this session we consider the organization and the dynamics of various forms of conflict We will debate whether conflict is an inevitable part of organizational life

Flink, C. M. (2015) “Multidimensional conflict and organizational performance”, American Review of Public Administration, 45(2):182-200.
Tjosvold, D. (2008) “The conflict-positive organization: it depends on us” Journal of Organizational Behavior, 29(1), p19-28.

Session 3 Resolution and management of conflict

At individual and managerial level the management of conflict and either its elimination or resolution is something that all members of the organization are involved with.

Ridley-Duff, R. and Bennett, A. (201)1 “Towards mediation: developing a theoretical framework to understand alternative dispute resolution”, Industrial Relations Journal 42(2), p106-123.
Weiss, J. and Hughes, J. (2005) "Want collaboration? Accept and positively manage conflict", Harvard Business Review, March, p93-101.
 
Session 4 Negotiation – perspectives and practice

Negotiation is a key process by means of which intra and inter-organizational conflicts are settled. There is a vast literature (and consultancy) on this particular approach and we will come to understand and practice it to some extent in this session.

A matter of trust The Economist, Feb15th 2001
Fells, R. (1996) "Preparation for negotiation, issues and processes", Personnel Review, 25(2), p50-60.
Malhotra, D. and Bazerman, M.H. (2007) “Investigative negotiation, Harvard Business Review, September, p72-78.
 
Intensive 2

 Session 1 Causal analysis

All change initiatives are made on an explicit or implicit ‘theory’ of the underlying problems. Conflict (discussed last intensive) is a symptom of such problems and hence having the ‘right’ theory is the first step to taking corrective actions that will work.
 
Guidelines for drawing causal loop diagrams. The Systems Thinker, 3(1):5-6.Quarterly May: 1-9. 
Managers would be better off if they did less and thought more, The Economist 17/08/13
 
Session 2 Models and dynamics of change

In this session we examine the core dynamics underpinning change and change theories. We will engage with the idea that the preferred approach of managers is only a good ‘tool’ in the right environment

Beer, M. and Nohria, N. (2000) Cracking the Code of Change, Harvard Business Review, May-June, 133-141.
Oxman, J. A. Smith, B D. (2003). The limits of structural change, Sloan Management Review, Fall: 77-82.
 
Session 3 Preparation and diagnosis

There are a variety of reasons why most change initiatives seem to fail and inadequate preparation and conceptualization of the change process and content is high on the list.

Beer, M., Eisenstat, A. & Spector, B. (1990) Why Change Programs Don’t Produce Change, Harvard Business Review, November-December: 158-166.
Inflexible organizations The Economist 2014
Swanson, D.J. & Creed, A.S. (2014) “Sharpening the focus of force field analysis”, Journal of Change Management, 14(1):28-47.
 
Session 4  The change ‘toolkit’.

Heeding the warnings of previous sessions we will discuss the variety of methods and processes that are available to managers once they have decided to embark on the change journey. We will also pay close attention to the (implicit) assumptions underpinning these methods.
 
Boaz, N. and Fox, E. A. (2014) Change leader, change thyself. McKinsey Quarterly March 1-11. 
Kotter, J. P. (1995) Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail, Harvard Business Review, March- April, 59-67.
Kotter, JP and Schlesinger, LA. (2008) "Choosing strategies for change" Harvard Business Review, July-August, p130-139.
Lawson, E. and Price, C. (2003). The psychology of change management’ The McKinsey Quarterly Special Edition. p. 30-41.


 
 

Assessment item	Due date and time	Weighting
Group assignment	15/04/16	35%
Individual assignment 1	20/05/16	65%
Total		100%

Students must achieve a pass mark of 50% of individual components of the course.

Group (35%)
Write a case study about an imaginary organization and the various forms of conflict that exist in that organization. Then write a ‘teaching’ note that explains this using models and theories of conflict.
 A case study is a description (much like a story) similar to the cases you will see in class. This description embodies the symptoms and processes that you will later ‘diagnose’ in a ‘teaching note’.
The teaching note is analysis and discusses the case using concepts from the conflict literature and suggests mechanisms for resolution/management based on that literature.
Output: 2000-3000 words (word format document) to be handed in via MyUni by 15/04/16.

Individual (65%)
Politicians and business leaders are increasingly prone to use words like ‘innovation’, ‘flexibility’ and ‘adaptive’ when referring to organizations. Critically evaluate the concept of the ‘adaptable organization’ (i.e. one that is able to change smoothly and rapidly to meet new requirements in its environment). On the basis of your evaluation what advice would you give to the senior management team of a large corporation who wish for their organisation to become and ‘adaptable organization’?
Output: 2000 words (word format document) to be handed in via MyUni by 20/05/16

Please note that to be eligible for Additional Assessment (previously referred to as Supplementary Examinations) in this course ALL required assessment tasks must be submitted.
For information on Harvard referencing refer to:
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/referencing_guides/harvardStyleGuide.pdf

1. Please note that all requests for extensions should be directed in writing to the Lecturer no later than 48 hours before the due date. Extension requests after this time will only be granted for exceptional circumstances. This does not include poor time management or poor file management.
2. Extensions to the due date of individual and group assessment may be granted under special circumstances. An extension request based on illness or on exceptional personal circumstances must include the "Supporting Statement / Certification Form" that is on p. 4 of the Supplementary Assessment application available at:
   a. www.adelaide.edu.au/student/exams/pdfs/supp_applic.pdf
   b. Students applying for an extension based on medical reasons must visit their medical practitioner, with the approved University form, and have the medical practitioner complete it. A normal doctor's certificate will not be accepted.
3. All assignments are to be lodged at, or prior to, the due date and time. A late assignment where no extension has been granted will be penalised by a reduction of 5% of the mark given for each day, or part of a day, that it is late.

Presentation of Assignments

1. Students must retain a copy of all assignments submitted.
2. All individual assignments must be attached to an Assignment Cover Sheet that must be signed and dated by the student before submission. Lecturers will withhold students’ results until such time as the student has signed the Assignment Cover Sheet.
3. All group assignments must be attached to a Group Assignment Cover Sheet that must be signed and dated by all group members before submission. All team members are expected to contribute approximately equally to a group assignment.
4. Students may not submit work for an assignment that has previously been submitted for this course or any other course.
5. Markers can refuse to accept assignments that do not have a signed acknowledgement of the University’s Policy on Plagiarism: www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/230/

This course is regularly revised and updated in response to student feedback.