A14903 Organizing Digital Change

The course is aimed to face the phenomenon of digitalization of companies in a systemic perspective and to overcome the fragmentation brought about by a partial and selective disciplinary approach. The course develops an interdisciplinary perspective of the matter by providing students with the basic conceptual tools to understand and manage the organizational change induced by the implementation of digital technologies.

At the end of the course students will be able to:

a) understand the need of change within the organization of work and the design of the organizational forms of companies as well as public administrations, in line with the impact that information and communication technologies (ICT) exert on processes, operational and managerial behaviors on tasks;

b) develop independent judgment in producing Organizational Design solutions, according to a business logic, to specific "critical situations" of work digitalization and organizational planning in companies and public administrations;

c) build communication skills of the analysis made and of the proposed solutions;

d) develop learning skills for interpreting independently ICT investment plan, digitalization programs of organizational processes, structures, performance control systems, and organizational positions

The course will expose the organizational theories, models and tools needed to design managerial, professional and consulting interventions of Digital Change.

The course aims to foster in students:

a) the development of an understanding of the need of changing the organization of work and the design of the organizational forms of companies and public administrations, in line with the impact that information and communication technologies (ICT) exert on processes, operational and managerial behaviors on tasks;

b) the development of independent judgment in elaborating Organizational Design solutions, according to a business logic, to specific "critical situations" of work digitalization and organizational planning in companies and public administrations;

c) the communication skills of the analysis made and  the proposed solutions;

d) the development of learning skills for interpreting independently ICT investment plan, digitalization programs of organizational processes, structures, performance control systems, and organizational positions

The course will cover the following topics:

- What are the technology trends that enable innovation of business processes (Business Process Innovation)? Industry 4.0, the Internet of Things, Big Data, Social media, Robotization, Machine learning

- What are the enabling digital technologies? Mobility, Cloud, Social Networking Platforms, Analytics. technological and operational aspects

- How does the digital technology affect the re-design of the enterprise? network economics, information economics, digital enterprise business models and design principles

- How do you evaluate the effects and impact of technology and digitalization on work organization and management behavior? Technologies as artifacts, the dual nature of ICT and the importance of context, the transaction processing system and procedures, Knowledge Level Systems and knowledge, the Management Level Systems and decisions, the integration of ICT,

- How do you re-organize the work of people with the digitalization? Smart working, Gig Economy, Group Decision Support Systems, Virtual Teams and Social Networks: the theory of media richness; the skill mismatch: analysis of incoming skills and new learning models in digital organizations, motivation and gamification

- How do you re-design the organizational structure with digital technologies? Infra-structure, socio-structure and super-structure; the ICT effects on organizational processes and resistance to change; Business Process Reengineering, Business Network Redesign, Business Scope Redefinition,

- How to deal with Digital Change Management processes? E-Leadership skills and techniques, Change Agents, models and theories of Change management and Business Innovation: Blue Ocean Strategy, Disruptive Innovation.

The course is structured in 3 modules for a total 45 hours (6 credits).

One module deals with technological matters and operating aspects, whereas the other 2 modules deals with organizational and change management topics. These modules are not intended as separate paths delivered in sequence, on the contrary they are spaces of conceptual development deeply interconnected.

The course is entirely taught in English.

The complexity of the subject requires the students to already have a solid base of knowledge in the managerial and organizational fields.

Teaching is based on the following breakdown:

- Lectures aimed at improving knowledge and understanding of the students through the exposure of theories, conceptual models and managerial tools of Organizational Design; students are invited to participate in the discussion with independent judgment, expressing ideas, asking questions, giving examples;

- Guest speakers: business owners and managers are invited to participate as guest speakers to lectures in order to deepen specific topics of the course, thanks to their business and professional experience. These business cases, enriched with any supporting teaching materials that will be made available on the course website, will be the specific subject of the final examination of the course.

- Simulations, workshops and case studies: students are divided into groups and tackle a case study, in the form of text delivered by the teacher and / or available on-line video, which illustrates some  "critical" situations as examples of the fields covered by the course. Students in the groups are expected to develop a presentation "Powerpoint type" simulating a professional intervention and / or consulting in which, applying the Organizational Assessment patterns, expose the analyses carried out and  propose solutions.

- Presentations and exposure in the classroom: some of the groups present their work in the classroom and develop, in coordination with the professor, a discussion and a comparison between the different hypotheses. Particular emphasis is given to the consistency between the exhibited items, and to communication skills.

- Individual study: the students are suggested some textbooks, articles and videos available online, corporate web sites, functional to the development of autonomous learning ability.

For those students who attend the course, the final exam is an individual test consisting in a written essay based on the topics dealt with during the lectures and the analyses of the company cases presented by the guest speakers.

For those students who do not attend the course, the final exam is made of two parts: an individual test consisting in a written essay based on the topics included in the programme and the analysis of a case study assigned by the professor at the examination.

In both cases, candidates must demonstrate:

a) sufficient knowledge and understanding of the problems under examination, by applying the relevant theories and conceptual models learned during the course;

b) mastery of adequate knowledge and ability to process and communicate solutions consistent with the detected organizational issues, applying  the relevant tools and conceptual models of Digital Change Management .

In both cases, the examination normally consists in a written test.