BEG9670

Change management and electronic commerce

Dr John Brown-Parker

6 points · City · Distance, approximately 12 hours per week · First and second semester · Gippsland

Objectives On completion of the subject students should be able; to develop an understanding of the nature of organisational change and the sources that promote change from the perspectives of both personal and system change; to explain how sustainable development within organisations can develop from identification and implementation of suitable intervention and planning strategies including personal change and the use of mental models; to explain organisational inertia and suggest strategies to address the issue as it relates to electronic commerce; to differentiate and use various methodologies used in studying organisational change and development; to understand and explain organisational evaluation and the major purposes of formal organisational diagnosis; to describe the practice of planned organisational change and evaluate how various methodologies apply in inquiring into and implementing planned change. There should be a clear understanding of the link between planned change theories and practice to describe the nature of organisational micro politics and leadership and explain how this affects the efficiency and effectiveness of organisations.

Synopsis This subject develops an understanding of the concepts and appropriate strategies to develop and implement change in organisations. Throughout the course electronic commerce concepts and technologies will be used as the fundamental change process happening. The focus of the course is on planned change as it relates to electronic commerce, the most fundamental change in business processes happening at the moment and implementing change for sustainable organisational development. The course develops an understanding of change interventions and encourages evaluation of the applicability of interventions in the context of management and organisations. The emphasis is on the applicability of theory to practice and the development of theory from practice. The course is divided into four modules. Module 1 examines managing change, and creating and developing sustained organisational effectiveness. Module 2 is a study of diagnosing and managing change. Module 3 deals with strategies in coping with the complexity of change programs. Module 4 looks at leading and learning from change. The practical component of this course deals with the Internet and its role in the practice of electronic commerce.

Assessment: Assignment 1 (essay - 2000 words): 20% · Assignment 2 (research report - 3000 and 4000 words): 40% · Examination (3 hours): 40%

Prescribed texts

Carnall C Managing change in organisations 2nd edn, Prentice-Hall, 1995
Brewer A Change management: Strategies for Australian organisations Allen and Unwin, 1995

Back to the 1999 Business and Economics Handbook