AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

After the successful completion of this course, the students will be able to: - Knowledge LO.I Demonstrate a critical awareness of discipline-based concepts and approaches to understanding the complexity of managing an organization. Acquire a deep understanding of the phenomenon of change. For example, describing and analyzing the reception of change management by employees at individual, group, and organizational levels while discerning and analyzing resistance and defense against change at individual, group, and organizational levels LO.II Demonstrate an understanding of how the acquired theoretical knowledge can be applied in practical business situations. Learn the various frameworks and practices associated with effective change management. Cognitive skills LO.III Demonstrate the ability to acquire and analyze data and information, evaluate their relevance and validity, and synthesize various information sources needed to develop a sophisticated understanding of a rapidly changing business context.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

This course introduces organizational theories and models, enabling the students to diagnose and implement organizational change. Specifically, it enables you to understand and manage the structural, individual, and group-level dynamics and challenges that occur when organizations change, have to change, or you (alternatively, other people) want to change them. Since sustainability and ‘green management’ represent a significant, in some cases even painful, change for many organizations, a thorough understanding of change processes and the proven tactics to manage them is fundamental to your ability to support positive change. 

Regardless of which kind of organization you will work in in the future - for example, a large multinational corporation, a public agency, an international NGO, or a private philanthropic or non-profit organization – initiating and managing change is always a complex and challenging undertaking. To make this complexity manageable, we will decode the structural, individual, and power dynamics in organizations that must be considered for any strategic initiative to succeed. Once we have covered these three aspects of organizations, we will develop a simple yet effective change framework to enable you to influence people and groups to change, design and implement change, and ensure that the changes you envisioned actually “stick” and do not disappear after the change project is finished

The first module of the course will introduce the basic concept of organization theory and change to then dig into the main structural, individual, people management  elements to manage to understand in order to implement a positive change that will stick. The second part will dig into the cultural and power and influence dynamics related to the change. Finally, we will integrate all these aspecta within an effective change framework that will enable you to design and implement change within an organization.

Specifically, in the first part of the module you will acquire the following learning outcomes

TEACHING METHODS

Please note that this course is delivered online (9 hours online videos + 6 hours in person) via the Learn platform. To request access, students must contact the Settore metodi e contenuti at edunext@aulaweb.unige.it.

Exam accommodations for students with disabilities or SLD Students with a valid disability certificate or a diagnosis of Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) (under Italian Law 104/1992) or Special Educational Needs (SEN), who are registered with the University’s Inclusion Services, can request compensatory tools and/or dispensatory measures for exams.

Students with disabilities, with SLD or with SEN are reminded that, to request exam accommodations, they must first upload their certification to the University website at servizionline.unige.it<https://servizionline.unige.it/>, in the “Students” section. The documentation will be checked by the University’s Services for the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities and with SLD.

At the beginning of the course, students are advised to contact the lecturer to agree on exam arrangements which, while respecting the learning objectives of the course, take individual learning needs into account.

To request compensatory tools or dispensatory measures, students with disabilities or SLD must fill in the dedicated Webform available athttps://unige.it/disabilita-dsa, at least 7 working days before the exam.

Students with SEN may instead send their request by e-mail to the lecturer, copying the Department Representative, Prof. Elena Lagomarsino,at inclusione.economia@unige.it, and the Inclusion Office inclusione.studenti@info.unige.it.

Please also note the link between the different methods we will use and the LO of the course as summarized in the table below:

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

For students who prefer the guidance of a textbook, we recommend the following “course companion” textbooks:

1. Organizational Behavior Managing People and Organizations 

Ricky W. Griffin, Jean M. Philips and Stanley M. Gully (Authors)

Imprint: South-Western        
Pub Date: 2016 or later
Edition: International Edition 12th Edition 

Publisher: Cengage Learning, Inc        
Published in: United States

This book can support the attending students, while it is mandatory for non-attending students, and the chapters to be studied are listed in the detailed schedule presented at the end of the syllabus. It can be useful because it incorporates most of the topics discussed in the course andplaces them into coherent intellectual contexts (in particular: Individual differences, motivation, groups, culture, Teams and Leadership, Organizational Design, and Organizational Change). Note, however, that for attending students, this book is not a replacement for the assignedlecture notes and slides, as they may follow a different organization: some issues that we cover in-depth in the course in class receive only brieftreatment in the book, and vice versa.

2. Leading change                              

John P. Kotter (Authors)

Pub Date: 2012 

Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
Published in: United States

This book and Lewin’s framework will be the base of our processual view on change. We will move from using our tools for diagnosis (understanding why and what) to how to implement changes and make them stick. For non-attending students, the entire book is mandatory for the exam.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Please note that online lectures are scheduled to begin on September 28, 2026 (first semester).

The session of 6-hour lectures in-person will take place from November 16 to December 11, 2026 (first semester).

Further details about the lecture timetable will be announced at a later date.

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy