Unit Outline

This unit is about understanding why and how leaders influence change. The focus of the unit is increasing the effectiveness of leadership and change management skills at an individual and organisation levels. Leadership and change management are increasingly seen to be key factors affecting the performance of contemporary organisations and are important areas of study in the fields of management and organisational behaviour. Effective leadership and change management are important to professional practices, multinational organisations, the public sector, and not-for-profit organisations. Leadership is what makes things happen. This unit explores conventional and critical perspectives on leadership and examines the practice of leadership in diverse organisational contexts. Effective leadership requires a thorough knowledge of theory and a range of practical skills to support people in achieving organisational objectives. The unit also covers the personal aspects of leadership, including leaders as relationship builders and organisational shapers. Change is said to be the only constant in 21st -century organisations. Effective change management requires strong diagnosis skills linked to the history, context, challenges, and opportunities faced by an organisation. This unit will integrate theoretical and practical aspects of change management to enhance capabilities in the design, development, and implementation of change management strategies. It will examine theoretical aspects from both traditional and critical perspectives.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1.	Critically analyse leadership and change management theory and principles.
2.	Evaluate and apply an integrated leadership and change management approach.
3.	Appraise how principle elements of leadership impact on self, employees, organisations, and society.

Alterations as a result of student feedback

To Be Determined

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Critical Response	See the MyLO site for the due date	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 2:	Group Presentation, “The Proposal”	Week 11	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 3:	Reflection & Integration	Week 13	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Critical Response

Task Description:

The purpose of this assessment is to develop your ability to understand and critically analyse leadership and change management theories and principles.
Completing AT1 will immerse you in conventional and contemporary academic approaches to understanding and enacting leadership and change, which will help inform your work in AT2 and AT3.
There are two parts to AT1:
AT1(Part A) – consists of a critical response to Leadership research (20%)
AT1(Part B) – consists of a critical response to Change Management research (20%)
For both Part A and Part B, you will be required to select 3 good quality, peer reviewed academic journal articles, review them, and use them as a basis to write a critical response to research.
You can select your 3 articles from the BMA701 reading list (linked from the MyLO homepage), or you can source other articles using your own research techniques. If you source articles from outside the reading list, consider the following to ensure you’re selecting an article of good quality:
- The journal it was published in (i.e. journal ranking, H Index, impact factor),
- The date it was published,
- the author(s) (i.e. are they management academics and work for a university),
- The number of times it has been cited,
- If it is an empirical paper (i.e. collected data), what method(s) are used and what are the strengths/weaknesses (e.g. sample size, quality of data, measures used),
- What are the article’s theoretical basis, contributions, relevance, implicit biases, assumptions, and readability.
Your written response for both Part A and Part B should adhere to the following format:
1. Explain your rational for selecting the articles you have: 150-200 words
2. Identify limitations of the articles (Think: methodological, theoretical, practical, contradictions, biases, omissions, etc.): 150-200 words
3. Highlight key contributions the articles make to Leadership research (AT1(Part A)) or Change Management research (AT1(Part B)): 150-200 words
4. Explain the implications of the articles to the practice of Leadership (AT1(Part A)) or Change Management (AT1(Part B)): 350-400 words
AT1 (both Part A and Part B), should be submitted to the relevant assessment dropbox in MyLO.
Note: For this assessment, you will be writing in an academic style. Your tone, language, style, and formatting should reflect this. This does not mean you need to make your writing overly complex or use long sentences or big words. But, it does mean you should avoid using first person (“I”), and that your tone should be reasonably formal. Please use the Harvard 2002 referencing style and be accurate and consistent in your referencing (both in-text and in your reference list).

AT1(Part A) is due Week 4, 21 March 11.59pm,
AT1(Part B) is due Week 7, 18 April 11.59pm

Task Length:

800-1000 words (10% leeway), excluding references

Due Date:

See the MyLO site for the due date

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Justify selection of articles	LO1
2	Identify key contributions to leadership or change management theory and/or evidence	LO1
3	Identify limitations and/or critically analyse leadership or change theory and principles	LO1
4	Articulate relevance of leadership or change management theory to practice and identify potential impacts on employees, organisations, and/or society	LO3
5	Write clearly in an academic style. Reference correctly and consistently	LO1, LO2, LO3

Assessment Task 2: Group Presentation, “The Proposal”

Task Description:

The purpose of this team-based assessment is to develop your ability to use theory to inform practice.
To complete this assessment, you will work in teams of 4-6 students to produce a Proposal consisting of either a 10-min recorded audio-visual presentation OR a 1500-2000 word written report (excluding references).
As a team you will need to identify a real-life organisation; evidence its need for leadership development or change management; and draw on theory and principles to develop a proposed approach for leadership development or change management, including how the approach might impact employees, the organisation, and the community.
Your proposal needs to draw on theory, principles and research (i.e. articles published in academic journals), but be communicated in a practice oriented way. The idea is that you’re producing the kind of proposal consultants would use to convince an organisation to hire them to deliver a leadership development or change management program.
Your Proposal should:
1. Explain in detail why the case organisation needs leadership development or change management;
2. Recommend an approach for the organisation to undertake leadership development or change management (what exactly needs to happen, who will do it, when, how, and why?), and;
3. Identify the most likely effects of your proposed approach on various stakeholder groups, i.e. employees, the organisation, and the community/society
4. Include the full names (and preferred names) of each team member and detail their role in the production of the Proposal. This component should appear on the final slide of your audio-visual presentation or on the last page of your written report. This is not to be a long section of your Proposal, but it is an important section as it will evidence the quality of your team processes, which are assessed as part of AT2.
Students can select their own teams for AT2, and each team can select its own organisation.
The organisation you select for this assessment must be one that someone in your team has worked in or volunteered for.
If no one in your team has any work or volunteering experience, please consult your tutor so they can help you identify an organisation and work through how you might determine a need for leadership development or change management.
Teams should be formed by the end of Week 4 and case organisations should be selected by the end of Week 5.
Please inform your tutor of the members of your team and your case organisation no later than the end of Week 6.

Assessment due date: 12 May at 11.59pm. You will need to upload your Proposal (either audio-visual presentation or written report) in the relevant MyLO Discussion board and submit it to the Assessment 2 Dropbox.
Note: All members of your team will receive the same mark for AT2 unless a case is made to the Unit Coordinator in writing of why unequal marks should be granted. Please note that 10% of your mark for this assessment is based on your team processes and it is expected that teams will work together collaboratively, respectfully, and fairly. If issues in your team arise, contact your tutor or unit coordinator so we can help you resolve them.
Note: for this assessment, your intended audience is the senior leadership team of your case organisation (remember, the idea is you’re creating a proposal that might convince them to hire you to deliver a leadership development or change management program). You must integrate theory and research, but you need to communicate (verbally and visually) in a way that will resonate with a practitioner audience. Please keep this in mind as you write and design your Proposal.

Task Length:

Either a 10-min audio-visual presentation or a 1500-2000 (10% leeway) word written report, excluding references

Due Date:

Week 11

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Evidence need for leadership development/ change management within the organisation	LO3
2	Articulate and justify a proposed leadership development/ change management approach	LO2
3	Indicate effects of proposed approach on employees, organisation, community/society	LO3
4	Integrate theory and academic principles into evidenced of need and proposed approach	LO1
5	Communicate clearly and persuasively	LO1, LO2, LO3
6	Work collaboratively, respectfully, and fairly as a team	LO1, LO2, LO3

Assessment Task 3: Reflection & Integration

Task Description:

The purpose of this individual assessment task is to provide you the opportunity for theoretically informed critical reflection on your experiences of work, volunteering, study, or sport.
Respond to the questions below by integrating your personal experiences with your understanding of leadership and change management research gained through this unit. The aim is for you to use theory to help you ‘make sense’ of your own experiences and to guide your future action.

1. Explain a time you experienced or demonstrated leadership. What was it like? Use academic theory and principles to explain (500 words)
2. Explain a time you experienced or led change. What was it like? Use academic theory and principles to explain (500 words)
3. Articulate 3 key learnings you have achieved in this unit and how they will inform your future leadership and/or change management practice (500 words)

For this assessment, you may write in the first person. However, you still need to integrate academic theory and principles by making clear references to academic sources. Theory and principles should be used to help make sense of your experiences; you may also use your experience to demonstrate how/where theory/principles fall short in applicability.
Note: The rational for this assessment is grounded in evidence that structured, critical, after-event review (ie you reviewing your past experience of leadership and change, combined with your learning in this unit) facilitates leadership development.

For more on this see the following article in the BMA701 Reading List:
DeRue et al (2012) A quasi-experimental study of after-event reviews and leadership development. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(5), 997-1015

Task Length:

1500 words (10% leeway), excluding references

Due Date:

Week 13

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Reflect on and explain experience of leadership	LO1, LO3
2	Reflect on and explain experience of change	LO1, LO3
3	Articulate intended future practice	LO1, LO2, LO3
4	Write clearly in an academic style. Reference correctly and consistently.	LO1

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.

Review of results and appeals

You are entitled to ask for a review of the marking and grading of your assessment task if there is an irregularity in the marking standards or an error in the process for determining the outcome of an assessment. Details on how to request a review of a mark for an assignment are outlined in the Review and Appeal of Academic Decisions Procedure.

Required Resources

Required reading materials

There is no prescribed text for this Unit.