Applying Change management models to the case of Meck Insurance

Normal late penalties apply (10% Decuction for up to 1 week late, no acceptance of submission after 1 week late).

Your final assessment, in the form of an assignment is designed ensure that you are able to meet the following learning outcomes for the module:

L1. Critically evaluate the imperative of organisational culture and change in the organisational context.

L2. Critically review models of change management and associated management tools.

L3. Analyse and make recommendations in relation to a cultural / change management scenario.

L4. Reflect on, and critically evaluate your own skills in influencing cultural change.

When Doing This Assignment : Keep in mind that the broad overarching aim we have is to assess if:

1. You learned the theory you were meant to on THIS module. You are not being tested on theory you learned in other modules- but what you learned on THIS module).

2. You demonstrate that you can apply (correctly sourcedacademic quality) academic critique to the theory you are presented with – through comparing and contrasting views of different scholars on the theory.

3. You also demonstrate critical thinking in selecting and applying the theory appropriately to a case. I.E. in such a way as shows you have Understoodthe theory and demonstrate this through appropriate Selection And Application To The Case Company

 

Assignment

For this assignment, you are to apply the theory you have learned to a change process in an organisation. In terms of the organisation you are to apply the learning to – you will use the case of ‘The Transformation of Meck Insurance’ (* note at the end). This case can be found in:

Your assignment task is to write a report based on applying theory to THAT case. Prior to writing your assignment you should undertake the following tasks:

Consider what you have learned from the module (in the way of theory or change management models) which has aided the change / culture change process.

 

Consider what you have learned from the module (in the way of theory or change management models) which Was Not Applied In This Case – But Could Have  aided the change / culture change process.

 

Select some key theories / models for application.

Then when you come to write your assignment:

 

Critically appraise these theories / models through wider reading of good academic quality sources

 

Apply the theories / models to the case organisation

You are NOT being asked to answer the questions outlined at the end of the case – you are being asked to do the above.

When Doing This Assignment

This assignment constitutes 100% of your overall assessment for this module. The assignment has been designed to help you utilize your understanding of the topics you have covered in this module. The assignment topic requires you to consider both the culture and change aspects of the module. The word count for the assignment is 2,500 words +/- 10%.

Further help in completing the assignment:

The following guidelines will help you in the execution of this assignment:

In writing the report you may have an executive summary at the front with a maximum of 300 words. This is not included in your word count. Also remember to start with an introduction that introduces all of the report and outlines what is to follow. You can have appendices which don’t add to the word count – but be selective in these. If you are not critically selective in your choice – you will lose marks.

 

Think of it as though you are an MBA intern. The CEO of the case company has been through the airport recently and picked up a management theory book ‘Influencing Organisational Culture and Change’ Book (i.e. the course workbook with the 10 chapters in it). He / she is interested to see if there is anything his / her company can learn from the theory in this book. He / She has handed this book to you as the ‘bright MBA intern’ and asked you to read it and evaluate the change process that is outlined in his / her  companies case in the light of the theory in this ‘Influencing Organisational Culture and Change’ Book.  He / she knows of the change process his / her company has gone through – so they won’t be at all happy if you ‘waste’ their time by repeating that back to them. What they want to know is:

Is this theory sound (is it rated by academics?) what is the evidence from other academics that this theory has been tested and is considered reliable / useful Are there any critiques / limitations to the theory.

What we (in our company) did well / could have done better in our change process. If we had used this theory up front, what might we have done better? Is there anything we have done that isn’t in the theory but maybe should be added in?

 

The structure of the report should be driven by THEORY not the case.  Remember you are doing an MBA in a University, so we are first and foremost looking to see if you can evaluate and critique theory. THEN we are looking to see if you can apply theory to practice.

Assignment

 

Review materials from all of the topics on the module to see which of the topics are more relevant to your organisations particular change. In the introduction you might wish to briefly academic critique in terms of which you have selected (and why). Also you might mention 2 or 3 areas of theory from the book that you have decided not to select for application in this instance – and say why.

 

Once you have selected the theories / academic models you want to apply, use each one in turn to sort out the information given to you in the case. So for example take your first theory / model. Systematically take the elements of that – one by one – and look for where that occurs in the case.

To practice how to compare the theory with the case (as you are to do for this assignment) you need to tease out what is written in the case that related to the theory. The word ‘teasing’ means unravelling – separating out the information – so you can see better what should go where. You are teasing out / separating the themes – by each theory - systematically.Using the approach described below will help you analyse the case report assignment.

 

Print off about 5 hard copies of the case. You will use one per theory that you need to untangle out from the case information. Use different coloured highlighters / pens / colouring pencils to underline the text in different colours. Coloured pencils are good – because you can shade whole areas of the case study text – and still read the print below.

The main body of the report could be 4 / 5/ 6 academic theory areas.

After the introduction, the next section could be a critically appraisal of the theory / models using good quality academic sources – prior to applying them to your case.

Then academically critically review each section of the theory / model using good quality academic sources. The next part of this section might be ‘what’ the case company did about that particular area. Did they do / not do as theory would have advised? Did they do some things better than theory might have suggested? Did they ‘miss’ anything that could have been done if they had known of this theory in advance.

You might choose to populate theory models with the sample case information – you could put these in the appendix or in the text.