Change is the only constant factor in our lives. The minor in Change Management introduces you to the challenging and fun field of change from multiple perspectives. It helps you develop your change competencies, equipping you to better handle change in future workplace settings. 

Nowadays change is the only constant factor in people’s professional (and personal) lives. To become a successful professional, being able to deal with change is of the highest importance. Though, most change initiatives fail or do not produce the desired outcomes.

What is it all about?
This minor introduces you to the challenging and fun field of change from multiple perspectives. It offers you an opportunity to develop your change competences, so you are better equipped to deal with change in future work settings.

What’s in it for me?
During this minor you will develop the competence to successfully plan, execute, and evaluate organisational change. You will develop this competence by participating in what we call a ‘change experience’: an 18-week project during which you work with four or five fellow students on a real-life case of an organisation, city, or industry that is on the eve of a major change. In that project your goal is to make real impact by making stakeholders enthusiastic for your change plans, to the extent that they want to carry your plans forward.

Upon completing the minor, you will be able to:

• make an analysis of external developments which can be of influence on the organisation.
• set up a business model.
• formulate strategic options based on the analyses.
• analyse your own organisation in terms of strengths and weaknesses.
• formulate strategic objectives in such a way that operational objectives can be derived from them.
• diagnose a complex situation with appropriate diagnosis models.
• provide insight into how the current situation is maintained by various factors.
• identify the core of the change issue.
• properly substantiate the choice for a specific change strategy, considering the nature of the issue, the change history of the organisation, the change agents and the energy and resistance of all those involved.
• translate the chosen change strategy in an intervention plan with a mix of interventions, aimed at the effective and efficient implementation of the change (including a training plan).
• develop a communication plan which fits the change strategy.
• determine the feasibility of the intended change (financial, legal and organisational).
• write a resistance handling plan

Propaedeutic certificate obtained

Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading change. Harvard Business School Publishing. ISBN: 9781422186435 

The assessment will consist of an individual assignment, a group report, a group presentation and an individual process.

Competencies

This minor provides you with a range of competencies. You will:  

• Be able to successfully plan, execute, and evaluate organisational change.
• Gain research skills.
• Gain communication skills.
• Gain entrepreneurial skills.
• Gain development-oriented skills.
• Gain innovative skills.
• Gain organising skills.  

Topics
The overall goal of this minor is to learn all about how to deal with change in future work settings. This encompasses the following topics: 

• Organisational behaviour
• Change Management
• Project Management
• Business Development
• Strategy & Innovation

Structure of the minor
You will participate in various workshops and meetings which are organised around five themes: Organisational behaviour, Change Management, Project Management, Business Development, Strategy & Innovation. These topics are of great importance for a successful change implementation. The five topics combined offer the right combination of practical and theoretical knowledge that will help you during the change projects.

Change (often) starts with the process of strategy formation. Based on an analysis of the environment and of your own organisation, you establish a desired vision of the future. You can use the familiar SWOT, but in a broader perspective, and you get acquainted with the Canvas Business Model. This business model describes the rationale of how an organisation creates, delivers, and retains value. 

The change management profession is central to the minor. How do you professionally shape the change process? The reason for change often arises from the strategic plan of the organisation. What is the desired change? What change strategy gives you the best chance of realising the change? What interventions ensure that this happens? In addition, we look at forms of resistance and how you can distinguish them and what effective strategies are for dealing with them. 

During the minor you will also work on personal competences and work on an individual assignment. It is your job to apply the knowledge of the workshops and the individual assignments to your change experience.

Teaching methods
During this minor different teaching methods will be implemented:

• Workshops
• Lectures
• Discussion groups
• Learning communities
• Project work

International context
If possible, we will look at the change processes within an international context. This will mainly depend on the input of students.

Costs
Solely extra costs for mandatory reading materials.