Duration
30h Th, 10h Pr
Number of credits
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
English language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
The Change Management course aims at offering the students different perspectives regarding the change management issues and challenges.
The course first presents various grids, available in management sciences, in order to describe the change projects, their nature, their scope, their temporalities, etc.
It also highlights how these changes may be explained, by referring to different theoretical approaches and by combining them in an integrated model, called "the five forces model".
The course then explores the way in which change processes may be assessed thanks to a multidimensional grid, directly resulting from the five forces model.
In the same perspective, the course proposes to consider changes as processes likely to be anticipated, via more or less probable scenarios, putting the emphasis on the crucial role played by the management style.
Finally, changes are envisaged as processes to be managed, by exploring diverse concrete avenues of action, linked to the theoretical approaches previously examined, in view of developing a "polyphonic" management style to ease the implementation of change projects.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
Students are provided with theoretical and conceptual tools destined to help them 1/ analyze the change management issues and challenges through different perspectives, and 2/ design, in a relevant way, a change management plan.
In line with the key learning outcomes of the Masters in Business Engineering and in Management Sciences, the main skills developed through this course are as follows:
- To develop students' skills regarding the establishment and the implementation of a strategy to optimize an organization and/or a project
- To invite students to take into account the legal, social, societal, and technological context of private companies and public institutions in the establishment and in the implementation of a strategy aiming at optimizing an organization and/or a project
- To work on students' capacity to research autonomously and methodically the information needed to solve a complex, transversal management problem
- To boost students' capacity to integrate researched information, tools, knowledge and context to build, propose, and implement original, creative and viable solutions to concrete complex management problems
- To develop students' critical sense (arguing) and to invite them to question their managerial practices with a responsible and ethical mind
- To ask students to show creativity, antonomy and entrepreneurial spirit, especially in the conception of solutions related to innovation project management and change management
- To enhance students' capacity to communicate efficiently about a company and a project through a professional perspective
- To develop students' capacity to work efficiently in a team
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
The "Change Management" course is based on a variety of complementary learning activities: traditional lectures, participatory approaches and self-learning methods (see below). Students will be asked to read several documents (book chapters, articles, press releases) and to research specific topics related to the course (particularly via the Internet). The course will be organised around traditional lectures, discussions/debates, real case studies, guest speakers' talks, exercises, and coaching sessions.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Face-to-face course
Further information:
The course sessions combine several complementary approaches: theoretical lectures, participatory discussions and debates, case study analyses, guest speakers' talks, exercises, coaching sessions, etc.
The course will feature guest speakers who will present concrete examples of change, which will be analysed using various theoretical tools, as well as professionals who will share their expertise in change management.
The final plenary session will be devoted to the presentation, by a CEO or project manager, of a strategic change project that still needs to be managed: students will be asked to design, as their final assignment and in accordance with the methodology detailed during the course, a concrete action plan to support the implementation of this project.
Students are therefore expected to make a continuous investment in terms of reading, preparing for sessions, realizing exercises, analyzing case studies, and participating in debates in order to facilitate their understanding of the course concepts.
Course materials and recommended or required readings
Platform(s) used for course materials:
- MyULiège
- LOL@
Further information:
Required book:
- PICHAULT, F., CASTRO, J.-L. & CHEVALIER, F. (2022), Towards a Polyphonic Approach to Change Management, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Recommended books:
- KOTTER, J.P. (2012), Leading Change, Boston, Harvard Business Review Press.
- BATTILANA, J. & CASCIARO, T. (2021), Power for All. How it really works and why it's everyone's business, New York, Simon & Schuster.
Diverse documents available on the Lol@ platform: http://lola.hec.ulg.ac.be
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
written exam ( multiple-choice questionnaire, open-ended questions )
Written work / report
Further information:
1st session:
design, by groups of 4 students, of an action plan to support the implementation of a real change project presented by a CEO or a project manager during the last plenary session (100% of the final grade)
2nd session:
individual written exam covering the course content (100% of the final grade)
Work placement(s)
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
Contacts
Professor:
Olivier LISEIN,
HEC Liège - University of Liege,
Building N1d / LENTIC,
Phone: +32 4 366 30 70,
E-Mail: O.Lisein@uliege.be
Teaching Assistant:
Margaux PERE,
HEC Liège - University of Liege,
Building N1d / LENTIC,
Phone: +32 4 366 30 70,
E-Mail: margaux.pere@uliege.be