Handbook

NOTE: This course was previously identified as MBAX6274

Contemporary organisations operate in complex and turbulent environments. These environments compel change, both episodic and continual. Systems for Change analyses change in organisations by viewing the organisation as a system comprising interdependent units, processes, procedures, rules and events, which can be leveraged to enable successful change.

Further, the organisation is an open system, positioned in and influenced by its external environment. The course highlights the uncertain and paradoxical nature of change and stresses those involved in initiating and sustaining change must embrace complexity, and adopt an open-systems perspective. The course also affirms change managers must continually assess and continually improve their personal effectiveness.

Systems for Change has three themes. First, organisations are complex and are in complex, turbulent environments. Second, in this context we propose that sustaining change is critical. Third, we argue that a 'systems thinking' perspective is essential for change agents. We offer various approaches to sustain continuous change in complexity, including:

• individual perspectives (e.g. paradoxical thinking),
• structural perspectives (e.g. ambidexterity),
• cultural perspectives (e.g. broad-based diversity) and
• leveraging established organisational sub-systems (e.g. the employment relations sub-system).

In this course, when we talk about change we mean sustainable and continuous change. This might mean sustaining changes once they have been made. Or change could mean sustaining the organisation's capacity for, and success in, generating changes to meet its challenges and seize its opportunities. Therefore, our focus is on one-off change and also on ongoing, continuous change.

In each Unit, we will ask you to think about how systems increase the organisation's ability to sustain change and change constantly. Further, we will ask you to think about how self-sustainable the systems are. That is, to what extent do they need constant management? Can they operate independently of individual people? Do they include feedback loops in their design, which lead to modifications to the sub-system? Are they designed for self-renewal?

Specifically, this course aims to show how:

• effective organisational change depends on the degree to which systems support, motivate and enable change
• effective systems are those that respond to and positively influence other systems, organisational strategies and the wider environment
• effective systems are self-sustaining
• effective change agents recognise the complexities of organisational change and in turbulent environments how a systems perspective can help sustain both episodic and continual change effective change agents critically review and learn from their experiences.

We explore the organisation as a whole. We focus on specific systems and how they can contribute to organisational change.