Communication and Change Fall 2001

Times	Day	Location
6:00 –9:00	Thurs	GAB 438

Professor: Brian Richardson Office Hours:

Office: Terrill Hall 246 MW 11 – noon

Phone: 565-4534 (office) Do not call at home. TH 1 - 3 p.m.

Email: brianr@po6.cas.unt.edu & by appt.

This and all other course information may be obtained in alternate forms if needed to accommodate students with disabilities.

Course Rationale:

“Organizational change” has become a buzzword in both applied and theoretical writings. This focus on change has led to several new suppositions which guide our thoughts on change. For example, organizations are instructed to change constantly or their survival may be threatened. Also, managers and supervisors are provided training and instruction on how to facilitate change among employees. Today’s employee is expected to be able to adapt and cope with any change undertaken by the organization. And, the only leader that need apply is the visionary leader who can transform the organization. The essence of each of these points of view can (and will) be debated. Still, it is safe to say that organizational change is of paramount interest today to managers, employees, and academic scholars.

The purpose of this course will be to introduce students to theories, perspectives, and empirical evidence related to organizational change. We will pay special attention to communication issues related to organizational change phenomena.

This course will be reading intensive. Each week, students will be expected to read several book chapters, articles, and/or case studies focusing on change issues. These readings will be discussed in class and all students will be expected to contribute to the class discussion.

Course Objectives:

1. To increase understanding of complex processes and dynamics of organizational change.

2. To increase understanding of the role of communication in organizational change, organizational development, and innovation.

3. To facilitate the ability to make connections between theoretical and applied writings about change to actual organizational contexts.

Textbooks (available at University Bookstore) and Readings:

Larkin, T. J., & Larkin, S. (1999). Communicating Change: How to Win

Employee Support for New Business Directions. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.

The majority of readings will be distributed in class on a weekly basis. These are not “optional readings.” They are relevant to the discussion material and the course assignments. You are responsible for ensuring that you get copies of all class handouts.

ASSIGNMENTS

I. Thinkpiece – Metaphors have been widely used to describe organizational change and today’s business context which is “continuously changing.” Change has been likened to “a dance”, “aftershock”, “biological life cycles”, “a game”, and “chaos.” Today’s business context has been described as “a jungle”, “whitewater rapids”, “war”, and “a race.” What is your metaphor for organizational change and/or today’s business environment? The first written assignment will be a paper entitled “Change is like …” Your paper will be turned in September 13 when the class will share ideas from their papers. Your papers probably won’t be shorter than three pages, but should not exceed five. This is primarily a thinkpiece, asking you to develop a metaphor for either organizational change or today’s business environment. There are no right or wrong answers to this, but there are well-developed arguments vs. unsupported ones. My main goal here it to get an early read on how you write and think. Due date: Sept. 13.

II. Class Discussion and Participation – Each week we will concentrate on a small set of readings. You should plan to spend quality time closely reading each assigned article/chapter so that you are prepared to discuss them during class that week. Know them well enough that if asked on the spot to give a cursory overview of the author’s points, you could do so. You should also type 3-4 discussion questions for every article and bring them to class. These will be used to stimulate discussion in class and will be turned in at the end of class. I will keep track of the quality and frequency of your contributions to the class discussion. Each week, one of you will “lead” the discussion. You’ll sign up for designated weeks on the first day of class.

Being present, being prepared to answer all preparation questions and participating are minimum requirements for a “B” level participation grade. For any grade higher than that, your participation grade will depend on the quality of your contributions. Quality comments include: adding new insights to the readings, offering a different, unique, and relevant perspective on an issue, contributing to moving the discussion and analysis forward, extending rather than repeating others comments, and demonstrating reflective thinking.

III. Comparison paper - For this assignment, you will compare/contrast an “applied” article or book chapter and an empirical piece on the same organizational change topic. The purpose of this assignment is twofold: (a) you will have the opportunity to analyze differences and similarities between two distinct types of writing, and (b) you will determine whether there are contradictions between what management practitioners are advising and research is actually discovering.

For your applied article, you may want to reference the following publications: Harvard Business Review, Fortune, Sloan Management Review, Forbes, and Business Week. Or, you may want to review a section of a book from an author such as Tom Peters, John Kotter, Michael Hammer, or any of dozens of “management gurus” who are advising organizations in change management. For the empirical article, you may want to try Management Communication Quarterly, Communication Monographs, Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, California Management Review, or Journal of Applied Communication Research.

Your task will be to identify and analyze key differences and similarities between the two readings. For example, you may find that one of the applied readings suggest that it is best to include as many employees as possible when implementing change, while a particular research article may include findings suggesting that employees do not want to be including in change implementation. Or, you may find strong similarities between the two articles which are worth explaining, exploring, and expounding on. This paper will be 8-10 pages long, and be written in APA style. Due date: Oct. 18

IV. Group Case Study – Students will form into small groups (2 – 3 people) to complete this assignment. Some time will be set aside the night of Sept. 13 for the groups to form.

Groups will prepare a case description of some large scale organizational change about which you are able to get significant information. The organizational change may be any of the types of organizational change that we are discussing in class (e.g. a particular merger or acquisition, downsizing, diffusion of an innovation, etc.) or some other type of organizational change, but you will need to be able to collect consider information about it, so that you create a complete case. The information should be first hand from an organization with which one or more group members are personally familiar or that you can gain access to for interviews or observation. You may supplement this information from newspaper reports, trade journals, material available from the Lexis/Nexus database, or other sources of information.

The paper (15 – 20 pages long, not including references) should include a description of the sequence of events that occurred and of the people/groups involved and should demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of the change taking place in the case. The case assignment will be graded based on how comprehensive, readable, accurate, and understandable it is and how little extraneous, unnecessary material is included. Furthermore, each case study must have at least the following components: (1) collected data (e.g. interviews, questionnaires, documented observations, etc.) to supplement other readings, (2) a thorough review of resources/literature relating to your topic, and (3) an analysis which shows the depth to which you’ve thought about this topic and which illustrates the connection between your topic and human communication. Due Date: Dec. 10

V. Presentation of Group Case Study - Each group will present – in a condensed and useful format – the conclusions and major points learned from its case study. These presentations will last 20-40 minutes (depending upon class size) and will be evaluated on style, content, clarity, and thoroughness. Regardless of whether your group paper is completely finished, presentations will be given the final week of the semester. Due Date: Dec. 6

Grade determination

Assignments will be worth the following number of points:

1. Group Case Study 200 points

2. Group Presentation 50 points

3. Comparison paper 150 points

4. Thinkpiece 50 points

5. Class Discussion 50 points

Total: 500 points

Individuals who accumulate 90% of the points will receive an A, 80 – 89% will receive a B, and 70 – 79% will receive a C.

Course policies

Assignments: Papers are due on the dates described. They should be typed and in APA style. No late papers will be accepted.

Attendance: Class attendance is a must. One cannot learn without attending class and absences are not positively regarded. You will also be expected to be prepared to discuss reading for each week. If you are called upon to summarize and critique an assigned reading and are unable to you will discover your participation grade will drop to 0 for the semester.

Academic Dishonesty. All persons shall adhere to the Code of Student Conduct regarding academic honesty, including acts of cheating and plagiarism. Of particular concern in a course with written and oral assignments is the issue of plagiarism. Plagiarism is defined by Webster’s (1989) as “the appropriation or imitation of the language, ideas, and thoughts of anther author, and representation of them as one’s original work” (p. 1100). In other words, plagiarism is stealing. You must cite your sources accurately and consistently in both your oral and written assignments. Penalties for plagiarism will vary according to severity and will range from a failing grade to prosecution through the University System.