BUSS 5065 Managing Change
Assignment 1 – Critical Analysis
In this first assignment, with respect to organisational change, you will critically examine an
organisation with which you are directly involved on a day-to-day basis. (Please refer to the broad
definition of ‘organisation’ that was presented in earlier sessions).
Such organisation might be one in which you are employed; or if you have never worked, one in
which you have a direct stake; including for example, your role as a student at the institution you
are studying, or your role as a member of a sporting or other club.
This assignment aims to develop students’ appreciation of their capacity as an individual, in
introducing change to their respective organisation. Thus, in this assignment, you will consider an
organisation which you currently have or previously have had personal involvement.
In the context of your understanding of the status quo, consider what change [if any], you might
propose to improve an aspect of the organisation over which you are directly involved. You are to
approach this assignment from the view of what YOU personally would do to introduce and
implement the proposal (NOT what you think others should do) and outline the process you
personally might follow to get approval/buy-in to the final implementation.
Your essay, appropriately structured with introduction and conclusion sandwiching the main body
of discussions, should include:
* in the area over which you have direct involvement, a brief account of the current situation and
your critical assessment of the status quo,
* identification of a proposed change in which you have authority or influence; and your motivation,
rationale and justification for the change;
* critical discussion of the change plan you will put into place; and the process that you would
follow to implement the change;
* identification of the challenges/obstacles you anticipate in transitioning to the new changed state
and how you might overcome them.
This is both a practical business-oriented, as well as an academic assignment. Your assignment
should be written in essay form; drawing from the change management literature to frame your
discussions. As this essay relates to initiatives that you personally would implement as a change
agent, you may use the first-person style.
You are required to include a minimum of 15 different references are required from the Change
literature; at least 7 of which, must be from articles in the course e-Readings provided in this
course. The referencing style to be used is the UniSA Harvard style. A Reference list must be
included after the Conclusion.
The word count is to be observed and incorporates everything from the first word of the
Introduction to the final word in the Conclusion.
Assessment criteria:
The assignment will be assessed on the following criteria:
* Adherence to the assessment instructions and relevance in addressing the assessment
requirements; including focus on addressing change within the student’s area of authority and
influence; acting as an internal change agent. 20%
* Demonstrates appropriate application of the knowledge, concepts and tools of organisational
change; fully supported by referenced sources from the change management literature. 20%
* Demonstrates ability to identify the organisational problem issue and apply process of analysis and
synthesis to emerge a plausible change solution; fully substantiated with referenced evidence. 20%
* Demonstrates reflective and critical thinking in presenting a logical structure and flow for the case for
workplace change and its implementation; including appreciation of the multiple stakeholders affected;
and the organisational systems constraints; fully substantiated with referenced evidence. 20%
* Thorough referencing (Harvard author-date system; thoroughly and correctly used in-text and as
listed), using a minimum of 15 references from the Change literature; at least 7 of which must be from
articles in your course e-Readings. Note: Wikipedia is not accepted as academic referencing.
Although this component is allocated 10%; failure in this component will negatively affect the prior
listed components.
* Observes protocols of academic writing and professional presentation (spelling, grammar, and
layout) and adherence to word limit. 10%
