Leadership and organization development

Higher Education Entrance Qualification.

For exchange students from NLA’s partner institutions: The students must be studying business administration or a related field of study.

On completion of the course, students will have acquired the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

Students

• have broad knowledge about the concepts of diagnosis and intervention, and can give an account of the relationship between the two concepts.
• have broad knowledge within the action research model as a way of driving OD processes forward.
• have knowledge about how to evaluate the results of OD processes.
• have broad knowledge within relationship between OD and learning in organisations, including learning processes that block/promote OD.
• have a broad understanding on the interaction between a consultant and client, and explains how to achieve a healthy helping relationship.
• have knowledge on how to plan, communicate and lead OD processes in different types of organisations (businesses, voluntary and not-for-profit organisations.)
• have knowledge of Hans Nielsen Hauge’s leadership philosophy (e.g, empowerment and ethics, etc.)
• have knowledge of Hauge’s significance for development and growth
• have knowledge on the significance of Hauge’s contribution to develop the Norwegian society

Skills

Students

• can provide valuable advice in OD processes and assist with the planning, implementation, and evaluation of such processes.
• can identify factors that either block or promote OD processes.
• can promote motivation and team spirit in OD processes.
• can diagnose internal organisational processes with a view to identifying strengths and weaknesses.
• can facilitate the use of intervention techniques to improve internal organisational processes.
• can develop plans for data collection in OD projects (e.g., interviews, surveys, observations, etc.)
• can effectively perform OD data analysis (e.g., survey interpretations, content analysis, force-field analysis, etc.)
• can identify resistance to change and provide advice on how to handle this type of barrier.
• can evaluate the effectiveness of implemented organisational interventions.

General competence

Students

• can analyse problems associated with the relationship between leadership and OD in a critical, reflective manner.
• can identify and assess ethical issues in OD processes.
• can present analyses associated with OD in an academic written presentation.
• can give an account of the key actors in OD processes and of their roles in the process.
• can understand group dynamics and handle conflicts by working on business cases in groups.
• can deliver a business pitch.

• Review the process of planned change.
• Define OD and trace its historical evolution.
• Describe the OD practitioner, focusing on their types, essential qualities and professional roles.
• Review the entering and contracting phases of OD.
• Diagnose organizational issues to help the client understand its current functioning and discover areas for improvement across levels using relevant frameworks and system thoery.
• Apply diagnostic methodologies for organizations (e.g., collecting, analyzing, and feeding back diagnostic information).
• Design interventions by crafting change proposals based on general models of organizational intervention.
• Address human process interventions (i.e., by focusing on the social processes occurring within organizations).
• Address technostructural interventions (i.e., better integration of people and technology by focusing on structural issues).
• Review human resource management (HRM) interventions (i.e., covering the cycle of activities that helps groups and individuals set goals, design jobs, appraise work, reward performance, and train future management and leadership).
• Develop strategic change interventions that focus on organizing the firm's resources to gain a competitive advantage in the environment.
• Manage change and transformation (e.g., by implementing and identifying key factors that contribute to the successful implementation of change programs).
• Evaluate and institutionalize OD interventions using recommended metrics to assess the success of OD initiatives systematically.
• Navigate power and politics within OD processes.
• Sustain continuous change and organizational learning.
• Link contemporary leadership theories with the OD process, highlighting key areas such as the positive leadership movement and the "dark side" of leadership and its consequences for OD.

The following mandatory learning activities must be approved before students can present themselves for final assessment:

1. Individual written assignment - analysis of real business case (1500 words , +/- 15% excluding references/appendix).

2. Individual presentation based on the same business case.

3. 80% attendance in class.

If students fail their written assignment, they will be given a second opportunity within the same academic term to submit an improved version for assessment.

1. Individual written assignment - final report based on previously submitted analysis of real business case (4,000 words +/- 15%, excluding references and appendices). Counts for 70% of the aggregated grade.

2. Online presentation of the real business case analysis (10-15 minutes). Counts for 30% of the aggregated grade.

Higher Education Entrance Qualification.

For exchange students from NLA’s partner institutions: The students must be studying business administration or a related field of study.

On completion of the course, students will have acquired the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

Students

• have broad knowledge within the concepts of diagnosis and intervention, and can give an account of the relationship between the two concepts
• have broad knowledge within the action research model as a way of driving OD processes forward
• have knowledge about how to evaluate the results of OD processes
• have broad knowledge within relationship between OD and learning in organisations, including learning processes that block/promote OD
• have a broad understanding on the interaction between a consultant and client, and explains how to achieve a healthy helping relationship
• have broad knowledge within special OD challenges that have been identified in recent research, e.g., "interpersonal mistreatment"
• have knowledge on how to plan, communicate and lead OU processes in different types of organisations (businesses, voluntary and not-for-profit organisations.)
• have knowledge on the significance of Hauge’s contribution to develop the Norwegian society

Skills

Students

• can provide valuable advice in OD processes and assist with the planning, implementation, and evaluation of such processes
• can identify factors that either block or promote OD processes
• can promote motivation and team spirit in OD processes
• can diagnose internal organisational processes with a view to identifying strengths and weaknesses
• can facilitate the use of intervention techniques to improve internal organisational processes
• can identify resistance to change and provide advice on how to handle this type of barrier
• can evaluate the effectiveness of implemented organisational interventions

General competence

Students

• can analyse problems associated with the relationship between leadership and OD in a critical, reflective manner
• can identify and assess ethical issues in OD processes
• can present analyses associated with OD in an academic written presentation
• can give an account of the key actors in OD processes and of their roles in the process

• Definitions of OD
• Basic assumptions and values associated with OD
• Leadership of OD processes with special emphasis on the action research model for planning, implementing and evaluating the OD process
• The operational components in processes of change
• Diagnostic methodologies for organizations
• Intervention techniques to achieve change/improvement through value-adding processes
• Contributors to the OD process and their roles within the process
• External consultants as designers of OD processes
• Barriers and critical success factors in OD processes
• Measurement and evaluation of OD processes
• Power and politics in OD processes
• The importance of organizational learning in OD processes
• Barriers to organizational learning
• Establishing a learning organization
• The dark side of leadership: consequences for OD

The following mandatory learning activities must be approved before students can present themselves for final assessment:

• Group assignment, max. 3 students per group: Analysis of a set problem associated with organisation development, max. 1500 words (except bibliography).
• 80% attendance in class.

Should a group fail their assignment, they will be given a second opportunity, in the same academic term, to hand in an improved answer for assessment.

Project group examination based on a set case. Max. 3 students per group.

Scope of assignment is 7000 words (+/- 15%) and 4 weeks deadline. The bibliography is not included in the number of words.

Project examinations are graded from A to F with A being the top grade and F being Fail. Group grading.

In working with a group exam, all participants in the group must contribute to the common product. If there is any doubt as to whether a student contributes or has contributed sufficiently to gain credit for a joint product, the routine described in the study plan will be implemented.