Unit Outline

In this unit, you will be introduced to 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. In this unit you will explore conventional and critical perspectives on leadership and examine 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.

You will also cover 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. In this unit, you will integrate theoretical and practical aspects of change management to enhance capabilities in the design, development, and implementation of change management strategies. You 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.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Anti-requisite (mutual excl)	BMA701

Alterations as a result of student feedback

TBD

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:	Assessment Task 1 – Critical Response	Week 4	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 2:	Assessment Task 2 – Group Presentation, “The Proposal”	Week 11	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 3:	Assessment Task 3 – Reflection & Integration	Week 12	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Assessment Task 1 – Critical Response

Task Description:

This assessment aims to develop your understanding and critical analysis skills of leadership and change management theories. This task consists of two parts: Part A focuses on a critical response to Leadership research, while Part B requires a critical response to Change Management research. For both parts, you need to select three peer-reviewed academic journal articles, review them, and write a critical response based on the research. You can choose articles from the unit’s reading list or conduct your own research, ensuring the articles meet quality criteria such as journal ranking, author credentials, publication date, citations, empirical methodology, theoretical basis, contributions, biases, assumptions, and readability. The written response should include rationales for article selection, limitations, key contributions, and implications for leadership or change management practice. Submit AT1 to the appropriate dropbox in MyLO, following the APA7 referencing style.

AT1(Part A) is due in Week 4, while AT1(Part B) is due in Week 7.

Additional details of the assessment will be posted on the MyLO website.

Task Length:

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

Due Date:

Week 4

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Justify selection of articles	LO1
2	Appraise key contributions to leadership or change management theory and/or evidence	LO1
3	Critically analyse leadership or change theory and principles identifying any limitations	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 with correct and consistent referencing.	LO2

Assessment Task 2: Assessment Task 2 – Group Presentation, “The Proposal”

Task Description:

In this team-based assessment, you will work in a team to develop a proposal for leadership development or change management within a real-life organization. The proposal can be a 6–8-minute audio-visual presentation or a 1500-2000 word written report. It should demonstrate the organization's need for leadership development or change management, propose an approach with specific actions, responsibilities, timelines, and justifications, and assess the potential effects on stakeholders. The team's collaborative processes will be assessed. Select teams and organizations by specified deadlines. Remember to communicate in a practitioner-oriented manner, integrating theory and research while appealing to senior leadership.

The details of the assessment will be posted on the MyLO website.

Task Length:

Either a 6-8-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	Appraise 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
6	Work collaboratively, respectfully, and fairly as a team	LO3

Assessment Task 3: Assessment Task 3 – Reflection & Integration

Task Description:

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 including 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.

The details of the assessment will be posted on the MyLO website.

Task Length:

1500 words (10% leeway), excluding references

Due Date:

Week 12

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Reflect on and explain experience of leadership	LO1
2	Reflect on and explain experience of change	LO3
3	Articulate intended future practice	LO2
4	Write clearly in an academic style with correct and consistent referencing.	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.

Recommended reading materials

Beech, N, MacIntosh, R, Krust, P, Kannan, S & Dadlich, A 2017, Managing Change: Enquiry and Action; Australasian Edition, Cambridge, Port melbourne.

Boonstra, J 2013 Cultural change and leadership in organizations, Wiley Blackwell, Chichester UK.

Daft, R (with the assistance of Lane, PG) 2018, The leadership experience (7th edition), Cengage Learning, Boston Melbourne.

Dolphin, R.R., 2005. Internal communications: Today's strategic imperative. Journal of marketing communications, 11(3), pp.171-190.

Goffee, R & Jones, G 2006, Why should anyone be led by you? What it takes to be an authentic leader, Harvard Business School Press, Boston.

Hayes J 2014, The Theory and Practice of Change Management (4th edition), Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, UK.

Hubbard, G, Samuel, D, Cocks, G & Heap, S 2007, The first XI: winning organisations in Australia, (2nd edition), John Wiley, Brisbane.

Marturano, J 2014, Finding the space to lead, Bloomsbury Press, New York.

Rickards, T & Clark, M 2006, Dilemmas of leaders, Routledge, London.

Sinclair, A 2005, Doing leadership differently, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne.

Spicer, A & Alvesson, M (eds.) 2010, Metapors we lead by: understanding leadership in the real world, Taylor and Francis.

Storey, J (ed.) 2016, Leadership in organizations: current issues and key trends (3rd edition), Routledge, London.

Waddell, DM, Creed, A, Cummings, TG & Worley, CG 2017, Organisational change: development and transformation, (6th edition), Cengage learning, Victoria.

Yukl, G 2013, Leadership in organizations, 8th edn, Pearson, Upper Saddle River. (At the end of this book, there is a very large list of leadership references).

Other required resources

In addition to the texts/software recommended above, you are also expected to be familiar with the key academic journals in the discipline from which useful insights may be derived. In particular, you are encouraged to review regularly the relevant papers that are published in:
Academy of Management Executive
Academy of Management Journal
Academy of Management Review
Annual Review of Psychology
Australian Journal of Management
Australian Journal of Psychology
Australian Psychologist
British Journal of Management
Employee Relations
Group and Organization Management
Human Resource Management Journal
International Journal of Strategic Change Management
Journal of Applied Behavioural Science
Journal of Applied Psychology
Journal of Change Management Development
Journal of Leadership and Organizational Change Studies
Journal of Management
Journal of Management Studies
Journal of Management and Organization
Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology
Journal of Occupational Behaviour
Journal of Occupational Health Psychology
Journal of Organizational Behaviour
Journal of Organizational Change Management
Journal of Leadership
Leadership and Organisation Development Journal
Journal of Management Learning
Organizational Development Journal
Organizational Dynamics
Public Administration Review
The Journal of Change Management
The Leadership Quarterly
(Please note differing spelling of ‘behaviour’ and ‘organisation’)