Course-PM

TEK660 Managing change in the construction industry lp4 VT24 (7.5 hp)

Course is offered by the Department of Technology Management and Economics, Division of Innovation and R&D Management, Vera Sandbergs allé 8.

Contact details

Examiner and course responsible: Pernilla Gluch, pernilla.gluch@chalmers.se

Course assistent: Dominika Klopotek (DK), dominika.kloptek@chalmers.se

Main teachers: Pernilla Gluch, Petra Bosch-Sijtsema, petra.bosch@chalmers.se 

Supervisors: Pernilla Gluch (PG), Petra Bosch-Sijtsema (PB), Dominika Klopotek (DK)

Other lecturers from academia and industry: Ida Gremyr (Chalmers), Peter Fredriksson (Skanska), Mats Färnstrand (Change management consultant, Kvadrat), Steve Cook (Norconsult), Anna Kadefors (KTH), Ulf Däversjö (Akademiska Hus), Kristina Gabrielii (SmartBuilt Environment), Jan Lenning (Chalmers).

Ladok administrative support: Moa Rosvall, moa.rosvall@chalmers.se

Course purpose

The overall aim of the course is to train students to actively participate, as leaders and co-workers, in various organizational change processes in the construction industry. The course seeks to develop analytical skills required to manage change in complex situations. This involves raising the students' knowledge and stimulate a critical thinking related to organizational change theories, change management practices, continuous improvement and ethical conduct.

Schedule

See TimeEdit

A detailed schedule can be found under the Module 'Course information and general documents'.

Course literature

All course participants study a common body of literature and in addition each student specializes in a selected area for their project assignment. The theoretical content of the course is discussed in the perspective of cases/experiences from change projects in the construction industry.

See detailed reading list in the Module 'Course information and general documents' for details.

Main textbook:

Hallin, A., Olsson, A., and Widström, M. (2021) Change Management, Studentlitteratur (available on Cremona).

Academic articles and course documents:

Academic articles related to lectures (available here on Canvas). 

Course literature also includes handouts from lectures continuously posted on Canvas.

Additional readings for your project assignement work.

Course design

The students are expected to be main drivers of their own learning. The keywords of the course are participation, communication, responsibility and commitment. 

Course content and deadlines

• 9 lectures
• 5 guest lectures
• 2 exercises
• 2 workshops
• A major part of the course is a project assignment in groups
• Final presentation
• 4 supervision meetings related to the project work.

See Canvas for the different deadlines in the course. 

Late hand-in of compulsory elements (project report, individual reflection, and reflections on exercises) gets minimum points after approval. For example: A report handed in late and thereafter approved gets 13p regardless of quality.

Late hand-ins of guest lecture reflections are not accepted.

Locations

Teaching (lectures, guest lectures, workshops, exercises) will be on Johanneberg campus (see Timeedit for rooms).

Supervision will be carried out online. Supervisors are assigned to you on 21 March. You make meeting arrangements with your supervisor on e-mail in good time before each meeting. 

Changes made since the last occasion

• Maximum oral exam points increased from 10 to 15 to better reflect the workload.
• Attendance on exercises is now compulsory to assure students’ learning.
• Maximum score on individual reflections on lectures and exercises increased from 2p to 3p.
• Lecture content has been slightly revised to improve the overall course content.
• Project assignment topics are updated.
• Minimum requirement of 75% participation on lectures (guest and theory) is added to secure students’ learning.
• Usage of Generative AI is specified.

Learning objectives and syllabus

• Define, describe, review and interrelate core theories on change management and change processes
• Describe and discuss phenomenon and/or problems related to organizational change in the construction sector
• Describe and apply management practices related to change management and continuous improvement, eg. ISO9001
• Develop analytical skills required to manage change in complex situations
• Have a sustainable and ethical understanding and approach to organizational change processes
• Discuss and critically engage with existing theories and research within the subject of change management
• Collect, analyze, assemble and contrast various literature and theories on organizational change and change processes in relation empirical examples from the construction sector
• Critically review and discuss peer students work
• Read and write academic texts

Link to the syllabus on Studieportalen.

Study plan

Examination form

The examination is based on:

• an oral exam,
• active participation and written reflections on two exercises,
• a project assignment report written in small groups,
• active participation in a group presentation
• an individual reflection
• A minimum of 75% attendance on lectures and guest lectures are required (=minimum 10 out of 14). If you do not meet this requirement, you are given a complementary assignment after the last lecture (8 May).

In addition, active participation in and written reflections on guest lectures can positively affect the final grade.

Oral exam

The oral exam tests your theoretical knowledge within the subject of change management. To prepare for the exam you will get a list of 20-25 questions 3 weeks before the exam date. The oral exam is 15 May and you will be given an 1h time slot 3 weeks ahead of the exam when you have to attend.  

Exercises

Two compulsory exercises supports you with practical skills on how to lead and support change and continuous improvement work.

Project assignment

A large part of the course is a project assignment in groups. The project work contains five compulsory activities:

1) A research report written in groups of 2-3 students. Final deadline for report is 3 June. 

2) Start-up workshop (20 March)

3) Peer group discussion workshop (6 May).

4) Final presentation in group of 7-9 students (22 May)

5) Individual reflection on the project work. Deadline 3 June.

The research report shall be submitted in Word format and be within the range of 4000-5000 words excl. front-page, references, and appendices. The report should not have an abstract/summary nor a table of contents. Instead, informative subheadings should be used to show the content of the report.  

A completed report contains the following parts:

• A front-page with authors names and an informative title, describing topic, context, and approach of the study.
• An introduction with a background description, based on previous literature within the topic, leading to a well-motivated problem statement leading to an aim and research questions.
• Description of method and research approach showing how you conducted your study. This should include a statement on possible use of AI tools, for example ChatGPT.
• Literature review where you describe the concepts, frameworks and/or theories that you use to support discussion and conclusions made. A minimum of three literature sources brought up in the course should be used.
• A summary of the main empirical data used to support discussion and conclusions made.
• A discussion of the results supported by empirical data and the concepts, frameworks and/or theories brought up in the literature review.
• Conclusions proposing suggestions on change and/or change processes to manage the problem(s) in hand.
• Literature references

Usage of generative AI:

• Can be used as support.
• Need to refer to the usage and describe how you have used it in the method chapter.
• We will check if the paper has been fully written by ChatGPT
• Generative AI/Chatbots can be used to improve language and readability.
• Generative AI/Chatbots are not permitted for generating the literature review. 
• Need to reflect on the usage in your personal reflection on your project work.
• The author(s) must be responsible for the work and accountable for its accuracy, integrity, and validity.

Grade limits

• Grade 3: 36 – 50
• Grade 4: 51 – 65
• Grade 5: 66 – 80

Your course grade will be based on the sum of your points on different course elements as described in the Table below. There are no opportunities to ‘plussa’, i.e. to improve scores after deadline.

 

Course elements	Max points	Assessment criteria	Compulsory/ optional
Project assignment report	26	Demonstrated understanding of the area of change management and sound argumentation for given standpoints. Ability to assess the quality of existing research within the subject of organizational change Ability to discuss and critically engage with the ideas of other writers Ability to collect, analyze, assemble and contrast various literature and theories on organizational change in relation empirical examples from the construction sector Results are supported by using empirical data (eg. interviews, survey, documents, trade press articles, documents) Critical evaluation of and insight into topic. Coherence – a clear and logical flow in text- and clarity in presentation.	Compulsory Min 13 for pass
Final presentation	10	Active attendance Clarity in presentation Demonstrated communication skills Ability to critically review and discuss peer students’ work	Compulsory attendance Min 5 for pass
Individual reflection on project work (should be within the range of 600- 800 words)	8	Ability to summarize the project work process Ability to describe experiences gained from the project work process and relate those to the rules the group decided on in the beginning of your work Ability to reflect on one’s own role for project process and outcome. Ability to reflect on future personal learnings from the project work Ability to reflect on diversity, equality and ethical aspects in relation to your project work	Compulsory Min 4p to pass
Oral exam	15	Demonstrated understanding of the subject in hand with sound argumentation for given standpoints. Active participation in follow-up discussions	Compulsory attendance Min 8 for pass
Exercise reflections (each reflection should be within the range of 300-500 words)	6	Active attendance Ability to summarize the exercise content Ability to express the main personal learnings from the exercise	Compulsory 3p/exercise. Min 3p for pass
Guest lecture reflections(each reflection should be within the range of 300- 500 words)	15	Attendance Ability to summarize the guest lecture content Ability to express the main personal learnings from the guest lecture	Optional Bonus points, max 3p/guest lecture
Attendance		Min 75% attendance on lectures – theory and guest lectures (= min 10 of 14)
Course total	80