Unit 24 Managing and Leading Change (T/650/2921) Assignment Brief 2026

Unit 24 Managing and Leading Change Assignment Brief

Aim

Change is the only constant in life’ (Heraclitus, 500 BCE). Whatever industry  and whatever position you are employed in, there is always change. As such, businesses need to adapt and change with the changing business environment. Organisations are seeing change at a more rapid speed than ever before. Technology is playing a big part in this increased pace of change. Change leaders are evident in all business sectors and in a variety of roles in an organisation.

In business, change is all around, in all areas of an organisation, from minor process changes to large-scale structural change. The aim of this unit is for students to understand the different types and scope of change that may occur in an organisation. The unit will aim to illustrate the drivers and triggers for change and how they vary and affect organisations in different ways, including the degree of impact and management’s response to change. Students will gain an appreciation of how the depth of change can influence organisational behaviour, both during and after the change.

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to apply a range of change management concepts, including diagnosing driving and resisting forces, planning for change and dealing with change in organisational settings. This will put students in a strong position to contribute to change initiatives in the workplace.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit students will be able to:

LO1 Produce a comparative analysis of the different types and drivers of change in business

LO2 Evaluate the impact of change on organisational behaviour

LO3 Examine different leadership techniques in decision-making for managing resistance to change and overcoming barriers

LO4 Recommend a range of leadership approaches to support the management of change initiatives.

Assignment Task

LO1 Produce a comparative analysis of the different types and drivers of change in business

Types of organisational change:

Change in a business context, including large-scale (e.g. radical, discontinuous, revolutionary) and small-scale e.g. incremental, evolutionary.

Different types of change, including planned or emergent, initiated or imposed.

Types of internal organisational change: structural, strategic, people and process change.

Individual, group and organisational levels of change.

Drivers of change:

Internal and external drivers of change e.g. PESTLE (political, economic, sociological, technological, legal and environmental) and core competencies, including identification and selection of the most significant drivers in each context .

The impact of technologies, including mobile devices, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), cognitive computing and data analytics on the speed of change and as a driver of change.

The digital transformation of organisations and the change business model.

LO2 Evaluate the impact of change on organisational behaviour

Change and the impact on organisational behaviour:

The impacts of change at individual, group and organisational level.

The psychological impact of change on people and the implications of change.

Impact on team dynamics and how people are led and managed.

The influence of position and perception on differing views of change, negatively or positively.

Readiness to change:

Learning organisations.

The use of systems theory, systems leadership and continuous improvement models to predict and proactively plan for change.

Measures to minimise impact change:

Different perspectives on dealing with change.

Change impact analysis (e.g. Bohner and Arnold) and impact analysis techniques.

The importance of stakeholder analysis and communication in change.

Application of the Burke-Litwin model to make the change process efficient and effective.

Preparing and planning for business continuity in response to major disruption and disaster recovery.

The benefits of effective succession planning for supporting planned transition and change.

Best practices for effective business continuity and succession planning.

LO3 Examine different leadership techniques in decision-making for managing resistance to change and overcoming barriers

Barriers and resistance to change:

Different levels of resistance e.g. individual, group and organisational levels.

Recognition of the barriers to change, including physical, psychological and economic factors, for the individual, teams, managers and the organisation as a whole.

Schein’s organisational culture model, self-efficacy perceptions and situational resistance when determining barriers.

The use of force field analysis to understand likely opposition and support for change.

Leadership and decision-making:

The use of the Vroom-Yetton-Jago decision-making model to identify correct leadership style for the situation and level of involvement required.

Leadership ethics for effective decision-making e.g. respecting and valuing diversity, values and ethical beliefs.

Speed of change e.g. pre-emptive and proactive or responsive and reactive.

The impact that the scope of the change may have on decision-making.

Factors for consideration, including organisational values and culture, ethics, type of decision (strategic vs tactical), value for money (VfM) and internal organisational factors.

The influence stakeholders have on attitudes to change.

Responding to barriers and resistance to change:

Conflict management, including Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) and interest-based relational (IBR) approach.

Strategies used to manage conflict e.g. choosing a style of conflict resolution appropriate to the situation, separating people from problems, listening actively and empathetically, establishing the facts of the case, exploring options for a solution, producing a resolution plan and gaining buy-in from all parties.

Conflict resolution and the benefits of mediation. The mediation process, and using mediation at different stages of conflict e.g., early stages, formal stages of disciplinary action.

Overcoming barriers to change, including: defining the changes required; moving to and agreeing a desired position with manager(s), team(s) and individuals; obtaining support; structuring the elements for change in overt ways.

Delegation:

Models of delegation e.g. Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s continuum, Tuckman’s four-stage model.

Features of delegation e.g. task definition, goal-planning, team/person selection, assessment of team/person capability, rationale for the delegation, target-setting.

Monitoring tools and reporting techniques e.g. activity management by observation, the use of checklists, updates and reports, self-assessment.

Factors affecting the success of delegated activities e.g. knowledge, experience and expectations of those involved, clarity of instructions, access to resources, time management.

LO4 Recommend a range of leadership approaches to support the management of change initiatives

Leadership approaches:

The context of a task, activity or challenge to determine leadership styles and management approaches for supporting the management of change in the organisation e.g. situational leadership, transformational leadership and psychodynamic approaches.

‘Nudge’ theory and influencing behaviours.

Features, advantages and disadvantages of different decision-making techniques, including decision tree analysis, Delphi technique, multi-voting, modified Borda count and paired comparison analysis.

Initiating change:

The impacts of change initiated by leaders e.g. increased control, time and increased opportunity to select the best approach to apply.

The impacts of change that is imposed e.g. opportunities are reduced or even negated.

The use of change agents in initiating and aiding change.

Change models:

The benefits and disadvantages of the key models of change, including:
● Kotter’s eight-step change model
● Lewin’s change management model McKinsey’s 7-S model
● Kotter’s dual operating system, which addresses both entrepreneurial ideas and strategy
● Balogun and Hope Hailey’s change kaleidoscope and the application of power politics and culture to change
● change through strategic communication, the principles of change leadership
● use of the ADKAR model (awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement) model to identify why change is difficult and why changes succeed or fail.

Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria

Recommended Resources

Textbooks

Cameron, E. and Green, M. (2024) Making Sense of Change Management. 4th Ed. London: Kogan Page.

Dawson, P. and Andriopoulos, C. (2021) Managing Change, Creativity and Innovation. 4th Ed. London: Sage Publishing.

Lewis, L.K. (2019) Organizational Change: Creating Change Through Strategic Communication. 2nd Ed. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Northouse, P.G. (2021) Leadership: Theory and Practice. 9th Ed. London: Sage Publishing.

Pendleton, D., Furnham, A. and Cowell, J. (2021) Leadership: No More Heroes. 3rd Ed. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Links

This unit links to the following related units:

Unit 4: Leadership and Management

Unit 20: Organisational Behaviour Management

Unit 46: Developing Individuals, Teams and Organisations

Unit 47: Human Resources – Value and Contribution to Organisational Success

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