Course Syllabus
Welcome to BUS643: Leading Organizational Change
Specific information about this course and its requirements can be found below. For more general information about taking Saylor Academy courses, including information about Community and Academic Codes of Conduct, please read the Student Handbook.
Course Description
In this graduate-level course, explore concepts and strategies for change management and implementation; by learning how to lead yourself first, you can effectively lead others and organizations.
Course Introduction
As a leader, it is important to facilitate change in any organization. A good leader first understands themselves and then how to engage employees to get behind and assist in implementing change. Before implementation, changes must first be understood by all, before employees will follow them. This course will help leaders understand the change process and what tools may be utilized to assist that process.
Many factors need to be understood about the change process, including the human element, straightforward leadership, change models, stages of change, and the organization's culture. Facilitating positive change and improving an organization through change is a specific skill that is necessary for leaders to develop.
This course will focus on developing these skills and what it takes to manage change in any organization effectively. This course will also cover how to determine what organizational changes are needed. Within this context, we will analyze change management practices and theories and review failed changes that organizations have attempted to implement. We will also review the impact of change on employees and how to mitigate resistance.
This course includes the following units:
- Unit 1: Introduction to Leadership and Organizational Change
- Unit 2: Change Management Models and Methods
- Unit 3: Considerations and Case Studies in Organizational Change Management
- Unit 4: Talent Management and Facilitating Change
- Unit 5: Planning, Implementation, and Managing Transitions
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Apply well-known change models to drive organizational change in a given organization;
- Determine the scale and scope of organizational change initiatives;
- Interpret the reasons organizations fail at implementing change and mitigation strategies;
- Analyze critical people skills to effectively lead others through change in a given organization;
- Differentiate long-range strategies to lead the organization to successful outcomes;
- Analyze methodologies to plan change initiatives with appropriate measurements in a given organization; and
- Analyze change management practices in a given situation within a global context.
Throughout this course, you will also see learning outcomes in each unit. You can use those learning outcomes to help organize your studies and gauge your progress.
Course Materials
This course's primary learning materials are articles, lectures, and videos.
All course materials are free to access and can be found in each unit of the course. Pay close attention to the notes that accompany these course materials, as they will tell you what to focus on in each resource and will help you understand how the learning materials fit into the course as a whole. You can also see a list of all the learning materials in this course at this link.
Some parts of this course may have been created or reviewed with the support of artificial intelligence (AI). To make sure you receive accurate, high-quality, and academically sound learning materials, all AI-assisted content is carefully checked and approved by Saylor Academy's faculty and subject matter experts.
Evaluation and Minimum Passing Score
Only the final exam is considered when awarding you a grade for this course. To pass this course, you will need to earn a grade of 70% or higher on the final exam.
Your score on the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. Be sure to study in between each attempt! If you do not pass the exam, you will not complete this course or receive a certificate of completion. You can attempt the exam as many times as you want.
There are end-of-unit assessments in this course that are designed to help you study and do not factor into your final course grade. You can take them as many times as you want until you understand the concepts they cover.
You can see all of these assessments at this link.
Continuing Education Credits
The certificate earned by passing this self-paced course displays the program hours you completed and continuing education credits (CEUs). CEUs document successful completion of courses that are designed to improve the knowledge and skills of working adults. Many industries value CEUs, and now your certificate reflects them clearly, and they may be used to support career advancement or to meet professional licensing standards. This course contains 3.5 CEUs.
Tips for Success
BUS643: Leading Organizational Change is a self-paced course, meaning you can decide when to start and complete the course. We estimate the "average" student will take hours to complete. We recommend studying at a comfortable pace and scheduling your study time in advance.
Learning new material can be challenging, so here are a few study strategies to help you succeed:
- Take notes on terms, practices, and theories. This helps you understand each concept in context and provides a refresher for later study.
- Test yourself on what you remember and how well you understand the concepts. Reflecting on what you've learned improves long-term memory retention.
Technical Requirements
This course is delivered entirely online. You will need access to a computer or web-capable mobile device and consistent internet access to view or download resources and complete auto-graded assessments and the final exam.
To access the full course, including assessments and the final exam, log into your Saylor Academy account and enroll in the course. If you don't have an account, you can create one for free here. Note that tracking progress and taking assessments require you to log in.
For more details and guidance, please review our complete Technical Requirements and our student Help Center.
Optional Saylor Academy Mobile App
You can access all course features directly from your mobile browser, but if you have limited internet connectivity, the Saylor Academy mobile app provides an option to download course content for offline use. The app is available for iOS and Android devices.
Fees
This course is entirely free to enroll in and access. All course materials, including textbooks, videos, webpages, and activities, are available at no charge. This course also contains a free final exam and a free course completion certificate.