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 brought about 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  and the design of the organizational forms of companies as well as public administrations, in response to the impact that information and communication technologies (ICT) exert on processes, operational and managerial behaviors and tasks;

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

c) build suitable communication skills;

d) develop learning skills for interpreting 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) an understanding of the need to change the organization of work and the design of the organizational forms of companies and public administrations,in response to the impact that information and communication technologies (ICT) exert on processes, operational and managerial behaviors and tasks;

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

c) suitable  communication skills ;

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

Main topics:

The concept of Change Management

The context (globalization, big data, network economics, digital divide, etc.)

Business model and digitalization (why and how going digital)

Digital Technology trends: technological roots and future developments

Digital Technology in a context: information

Business paradigms and Digital-enabled change

Theories and approaches to change

Drivers of Change and Resistance to Change

The role of leadership and change agents

Organizing people’s work in the digital company.

Roles, responsibilities and skills for digital change

Patterns of change and cultural underpinnings

The learning organization (learning how to change)

Project management practices for digital transformation

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 to deal with case studies, 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 small groups are expected to develop a presentation "Powerpoint type" simulating a professional intervention and / or consulting in which, applying the Organizational Assessment patterns, they expose the analyses carried out and  propose solutions.

- Presentations in pleanry session: 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.

- 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 attending students, the overall evaluation is based on the following components:

• continuous assessment (through take-home assignments): 30%
• project work on the analysis of ROLD case: 40% (presentation of projects works: 18 May 2020)
• final exam: 30% (pre-exam on 26 May)

In the light of the present situation, the pre-exam consists of an essay (1 hour and a half to 2 hours) in which students will be asked to discuss one of the cross-disciplinary issues of the course. The essay can be performed with OPEN BOOKS.

During the normal examination sessions, the final exam for attending students will be held in oral form.

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 analysis of a case study assigned by the professor at the examination followed by a colloquium on the topics included in the programme.

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 .