Leading Creative Change

Aim

This course addresses a range of topics and questions in the area of managing and leading creative change, such as: How do organizations change? How do organizations implement strategy? How do organizations implement strategic change? How do organizations stimulate entrepreneurial action? How do organizations work with innovation? How can we create individuals, organizations and contexts that stimulate creative change? Theoretically, this course addresses change from a number of perspectives and in different empirical contexts. The idea is to target the execution and implementation of change with a particular focus on entrepreneurship and innovation.

The course centers on activities associated with how to ensure that strategy works in practice and various ways on how to implement change and transformation efforts. In that respect, the course is firmly rooted in strategy and management theory, yet adds components and insights from other disciplines that offer nuance to entrepreneurial and innovative action.

The course consists of three main blocks where the first block follows a classic design with lectures and seminars, very much based on theoretical and practice-oriented literatures on change, entrepreneurship and innovation. The two other blocks are oriented towards teamwork and individual paper writing.

• Students should develop an understanding of current theory on strategy implementation and strategy execution.
• Students should develop an understanding of how the field of strategy relates to other disciplines, primarily innovation, change and entrepreneurship.
• Students should develop an understanding of the literature on the leadership and management of change in light of strategy.
• Students should develop an understanding of the literature on the management of innovation and how it relates to strategy.
• Students should develop an understanding of how strategy operates in practice and how managers can improve the success of a particular strategic decision.
• Students should improve their ability to read advanced academic papers within the area of strategy, organization and change.
• Students should improve their ability to analyze complex strategic problems and suggest solutions.
• Students should improve their ability to present their analysis and recommendations within the area of strategy and change.
• Students should improve their ability to write academic texts.

Content

Week 1: What is strategy implementation? What is strategy execution? Theories of strategy implementation. Current research on strategy implementation. How strategy relates to innovation, change and entrepreneurship. Lectures and literature seminar.

Week 2: Strategy as practice and process. What is strategy in practice? What is strategy-as-practice? What does the practice perspective add to our understanding? Lecture, guest lecture and seminar.

Week 3: Strategy and projects. What is a project-based view on strategy? What do we know about the linkages between strategy and projects? Lectures and case seminar.

Week 4: Strategy and innovation. Types of innovation. Linking strategy with innovation. Lectures and case seminar.

Week 5: Strategy and change. Types of change. Linking strategy with change. Lectures and case seminar.

Week 6: Strategy and creativity. How creativity relates to strategy? How leaders can work with strategic creativity? Lectures and reflection seminar.

Week 6: Written exam

Week 7-8: Group work “The Strategic Problem”

Week 9-10: Course paper “Conceptual paper on current topic in strategy and change”