The aim of this module is to analyse situations that face leaders and managers when responding to the needs of the organisation/marketplace. It will investigate a range of workplace situations where creativity and innovation are essential in order to achieve competitive advantage. This level will be considered in the context of what may be appropriate for individual organisations and the requirement to respond to the needs of the organisation or the demands of the marketplace. Indicative content will include:

Comprehensive coverage of the significant ideas and issues associated with change at all levels of the organisation
Critical analysis of theories and research in relation to change initiatives
Provision of examples and analysis of approaches to leading and implementing change
Consideration of effective People Management initiatives and practices to ensure the ethical and appropriate management of people through change.
Developing change leadership capability at the strategic level.
Sources of innovation and tools for innovating
Creativity, innovation and continuous improvement

It is also designed to cover the following sections of the Apprenticeship Standard for Senior Leader Apprenticeship:

Duties:
Duty 10: Shape the approach to external communications for their area of responsibility and ensure it aligns with any wider organisational communications strategy
Duty 11: Proactively keep up to date with social, economic and technological trends and developments relevant to their area of responsibility and wider organisation and promote innovation to address changing requirements and to take advantage of new opportunities.
Mapped to KSBs:
K3: New market strategies, changing customer demands and trend analysis.
K4: Innovation; the impact of disruptive technologies (mechanisms that challenge traditional business methods and practices); drivers of change and new ways of working across infrastructure, processes, people and culture and sustainability.
K7: Competitive strategies and entrepreneurialism, approaches to effective decision making, and the use of big data and insight to implement and manage change.
S3: Undertake research, and critically analyse and integrate complex information.
S4: Lead change in their area of responsibility, create an environment for innovation and creativity, establishing the value of ideas and change initiatives and driving continuous improvement
S7: Challenge strategies and operations in terms of ethics, responsibility, sustainability, resource allocation and business continuity/risk management.
S9: Drive a culture of resilience and support development of new enterprise and opportunities.
S13: Use personal presence and "storytelling" to articulate and translate vision into operational strategies, demonstrating clarity in thinking.
S21: Shape and manage the communications strategy for their area of responsibility.
B1: Work collaboratively enabling empowerment and delegation.
B3: Curious and innovative - exploring areas of ambiguity and complexity and finding creative solutions.

Your work-based assignment should critically examine your organisation’s approach to change and evaluate the tools used. By reflecting on past change initiatives in your organisation, you should assess and evaluate the consequences of these changes on staff and the organisation. Finally, you should discuss how change can lead to innovation and how this can be used to gain a competitive advantage in your sector. (Learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4)

Your portfolio of evidence should include a collection of evidence which directly links to your discussion in the work-based assignment. (Learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4)

Scheduled learning and teaching activities: 52 hours
To consist of:
Face-to-face which will include groupwork, formal teaching, case study analysis, guest speakers and students will be encouraged to share their workplace experiences with others
Online live webinars to take the form of tutorials involving opportunities for group discussion and presentation, flipped-classroom opportunities, further groupwork and case study analysis

Guided independent study: 148 hours
To consist of:
Accessing additional online content such as videos and presentations
Independent reading to consolidate knowledge gained in the formal teaching
Undertaking formative tasks set by the tutor to consolidate learning
Assessment preparation and writing and gathering evidence
Portfolio building

Module Learning Outcome
1.Critically analyse and evaluate approaches to change in relation to the complexities of organisational life, from both theoretical and practical perspectives.

University Learning Outcome
Enquiry Analysis

Module Learning Outcome
2. Evaluate the value and appropriateness of change management tools to support innovation

University Learning Outcome
Problem solving Application

Module Learning Outcome
3. Assess and evaluate the consequences of change on people in organisations and formulate informed discussions on the management and leadership of change initiatives

University Learning Outcome
Communication Reflection

Module Learning Outcome
4. Establish the fundamental importance of leading innovation in order to achieve competitive advantage

University Learning Outcome
Knowledge and Understanding Learning

Journals: Journal of Change Management, Journal of Organisational Change Management, International Journal of Strategic Change Management, Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Journal of Innovation and Knowledge, European Journal of Innovation Management
McKinsey & Company: www.mckinsey.com
Manchester Institute of Innovation Research: https://www.mioir.manchester.ac.uk/
UK Innovation and Research: https://www.ukri.org/
Bain & Company: www.bain.com
Harvard Business School Working Knowledge: https://hbswk.hbs.edu/

Cawsey, T.F., Deszca, G. and Ingols, C. (2019). Organizational Change: an action-oriented toolkit. 4th Edition. London: Sage.
Pixton, P., Gibson, P. and Nickolaisen, N. (2014). The Agile Culture: Leading through trust and ownership. Indiana: Pearson.
Proctor, T (2019), Creative Problem-solving for managers: developing skills for decision making and innovation, Routledge (eBook)
Tidd, J, Bessant, JR (2018), Managing Innovation: integrating technological, market and organisational change, 6th Edition, John Wiley
Dawson, P, Andriopoulous, C (2014) Managing Change, creativity and Innovation, 2nd edition, Sage
Pastoors, S, Scholz, U, Becker, J et al (2017) Towards sustainable innovation: A five step approach to sustainable change (E-Book)

The module is only open to those enrolled on the Senior Leader Apprenticeship programme.

The aim of this module is to analyse situations that face leaders and managers when responding to the needs of the organisation/marketplace. It will investigate a range of workplace situations where creativity and innovation are essential in order to achieve competitive advantage. This level will be considered in the context of what may be appropriate for individual organisations and the requirement to respond to the needs of the organisation or the demands of the marketplace.