Course syllabus

Note: Changes may be made due to unforeseen circumstances. Last revision: 200428.

Course-PM

TEK660 Managing change in the construction industry lp4 VT20 (7.5 hp)

Course is offered by the department of Technology Management and Economics

Contact details

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

Course assistant: Ingrid Svensson, ingrid.svensson@chalmers.se

Teachers: Pernilla Gluch, Ingrid Svensson, Petra Bosch-Sijtsema, Marco Santos

Tutors: Pernilla Gluch, Ingrid Svensson, Petra Bosch-Sijtsema

Guest lecturers from industry: Peter Fredriksson (Skanska), Mats Färnstrand (Core Change Management Consultant), Steve Cook (Norconsult), Anna Kadefors (KTH), Ulf Däversjö (Akademiska Hus), Kristina Gabrielii (SmartBuilt).

Administrative support (Ladok): Jenny Weijland, jenny.weijland@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.

Course outline and schedule

TimeEdit

Location: The course will to a large extent be given online. You will get a link that give you access to a Zoom meeting for each scheduled lecture.  

If not agreed on differently, tutoring will be carried out online. You make arrangements with your tutor on e-mail.

Preliminary schedule 

Week	Date Time	Course elements
1/13	Mon 23/3 10-12	Introduction Course and project work
	Wed 25/3 10-12	Lecture 1: Managing change in the construction industry
	Thu 26/3 - Fri 27/3	Project work. Online start-up tutoring meetings.
2a/14	Mon 30/3 10-12	Lecture 2: Change management theories and models 1
	Wed 1/4 10-12	Lecture 3: Change management theories and models 2
	Wed 1/4 13-17	Project work Online Q&A consultation with tutor
	6/4 – 14/4	Re-exam weeks and Eastern Holiday
2b/16	Wed 15/4 10-12	Lecture 4: Motivation and resistance to change
	Wed 15/4 13-17	Project work Online Q&A consultation with tutor
3/17	Mon 20/4 10-12	Guest lecture 1: Mats Färnstrand (external change consultant), Core Change Management Consultancy
	Wed 22/4 10-12	Lecture 5: Leadership and communication in change processes
	Wed 22/4 15-17	Guest lecture 2: Steve Cook (developer), Norconsult Astando
	Thu 23/4 13-17	Project work Online Q&A consultation with tutor (Pernilla's and Petra's groups)
	Wed 24/4 8-12	Project work Online Q&A consultation with tutor (Ingrid's groups)
4/18	Mon 27/4 10-12	Lecture 6: Sustaining change – organizational learning and ethical conduct
	Wed 29/4	Lecture 7&8 (prerecorded material posted on Canvas): Continuous improvement – statistical tools and methods Exercise 2 (prerecorded material posted on Canvas): Statistic process development
	Thu 30/4	Submit synopsis – draft version
5/19	Mon 4/5 8.30-12	Lecture 9: Change management diagnosing - methods and tools Exercise 2: Affinity mapping
	Wed 6/5 13-17	Workshop 1 (compulsory): Peer group discussions
6/20	Mon 11/5 9-12	Guest lecture 3: Client driven innovation and change. Anna Kadefors (Professor in Real Estate management), KTH, and Ulf Däversjö, Akademiska Hus.
	Wed 13/5 10-12	Lecture 10: Institutional change
	Wed 13/5 13-15	Guest lecture 4: Peter Fredriksson (development manager), Skanska.
	Wed 13/5 15-17	Project work Online Q&A consultation with tutor
7/21	Mon 18/5 10-12	Guest lecture 5: Kristina Gabrielii (consultant), Gabrielii Development and SmartBuilt
	Wed 20/5 10-12	Lecture 11: Sustainability transition and change
	Wed 20/5 13-17	Project work Online Q&A consultation with tutor
	Fri 22/5	Submit synopsis – final version
8/22	Mon 25/5 8.15 - 8.45 9.00 - 9.30 10.00 -10.30 10.45-11.15 11.30- 12.00	Oral exam (compulsory) Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Session 4 Session 5
	Wed 27/5 10-11.45	Project work Preparation workshop 2
	Wed 27/5 13-17	Workshop 2 with presentation (compulsory): Test and redefine your ideas - co-create with members from CMB’s innovation group.
X/23	Fri 5/6	Hand-in individual reflection

Course literature

Cameron and Green (2020) Making sense of change management, Kogan page. Available as e-book at Chalmers Library (you have to login with your CID to get access). Link: https://proxy.lib.chalmers.se/sso/skillport?context=145450

20-25 academic articles related to lectures (will be available on Canvas a minimum of 1 week ahead of relevant lecture).

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

Additional readings for your project work.

Course design

The course consists of:

• 11 lectures
• 5 guest lectures
• 2 workshops
• 2 exercises
• Supervision
• a major part of the course is a project assignment in groups

Changes made since the last occasion

No previous occasion.

Learning objectives

Learning objectives:

• Define, describe, review and interrelate core theories on organizational change processes
• Describe and discuss phenomenon and/or problems related to change management in the construction sector
• Describe and apply management practices related to organizational change 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
• Discuss and critically engage with the theoretical ideas of other writers
• Assess the quality of existing research within the subject of organizational change
• Collect, analyze, assemble and contrast various literature and theories on organizational change 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

Project assignment

A large part of the course is a project assignment in groups. The results from the project work is presented in four ways:

1) A synopsis report written in groups of 2-3 students (22 May).

2) Peer group discussions (6 May).   

3) Final presentation (27 May)

4) Individual reflection on the project work.  

The synopsis report shall be within 3-4000 words, written in Word format and include:

• Title
• Well-motivated problem statement
• Method/approach
• Stating how you have answered the problem by using concepts, frameworks and  theories covered by the course.
• Discuss and suggest solution
• References

Examination form

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

The examination is based on an oral exam, a term paper (synopsis) written in small groups, a group presentation and an individual reflection exercise. In addition, active participation in seminars, lectures, exercises and workshops can affect the final grade.

The project assignment will be introduced on 23 March, 10.00 where more detailed information will be given. 

• Grade 3: 25 – 38
• Grade 4: 39 – 52
• Grade 5: 53 – 65

Your course grade will be based on the sum of your points on six different course elements as described below.

Course elements	Max points	Assessment criteria	Compulsory/ optional
Project report (synopsis) 3-4000 words.	25	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 Shown ability to discuss and critically engage with the ideas of other writers Shown ability to collect, analyze, assemble and contrast various literature and theories on organizational change in relation empirical examples from the construction sector Support by empirical data (eg. interviews, survey, documents, trade press articles) Critical evaluation and insight. Coherence – a clear and logical flow in text- and clarity in presentation.	Compulsory Min 12 for pass
Oral exam	10	Demonstrated understanding of the subject in hand with sound argumentation for given standpoints. Active participation in follow-up discussions	Compulsory Min 5 for pass
Final presentation	10	Clarity in presentation and argumentation Demonstrated communication skills Critically discuss peer students’ work	Compulsory Min 5 for pass
Individual reflection Max 750 words.	6	Ability to summarize the project work process Ability to describe experiences gained from the project work process  Ability to reflect on future personal learnings from the project	Compulsory Min 3 for pass
Guest lecture reflections Max 400 words/each	10	Ability to summarize the guest lecture content Ability to describe the main personal learnings from the guest lecture	Optional: Bonuspoints, max 2p/lecture
Exercise reflection Max 400 words/each	4	Ability to summarize the exercise content Ability to to describe the main personal learnings from the exercise	Optional: Bonuspoints, max 2p/exercise