Explore UCD

UCD Home >

BMGT30100

Academic Year 2026/2027

Leadership and Change Management (BMGT30100)

Subject:
Business Management
College:
Business
School:
Business
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Dr Felix Hoch
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

Organizations and individuals need to cope with and manage the radical societal and technological change they are facing. To achieve a successful transformation, people (i.e., leaders, employees, etc.) play a key role, as they are an organization's most critical resources. Their experience, knowledge, and skills, along with their creativity, effort, and engagement, form the basis for an organization’s ability to adapt and to achieve sustainable success. People need to propose new ideas or improvements to current products and processes and are actively involved in driving or hindering change. Therefore, the focus of this module lies both on the hard (i.e, structure and strategy) and the soft (i.e., human) side of change. This module offers in-depth insights into change management, innovation management, and organisational behaviour by examining the nature of individual and team behaviours in work environments facing times of radical change and by discussing how behaviours, emotions, and cognition affect the drive for change. The course will discuss and explore different topics at the individual, team, and organisational level in class.

Participants are encouraged to explore the interconnected nature of the various topics to be covered and to develop a holistic and critical understanding of the subject.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

The objective of this course is to increase your understanding and abilities to effectively cope with and manage change in today’s work environments. On completion of this course, you should be able to:
1. Demonstrate an ability to critically discuss the contents of the course and demonstrate how it is applicable to modern organizations.
2. Understand how the modern fast-changing world drives organisational change.
3. Diagnose the need for change and innovation within organisations and be able to apply appropriate diagnostic techniques.
4. Understand the key challenges faced while driving change and innovation in organisations and how to deal with them.
5. Appreciate the role of leadership, culture, and conflict within interventions and be able to identify appropriate frameworks for overcoming resistance to change.

UNESCO highlights a set of key competencies that support individuals in their development and support society in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UCD has adapted these competencies and is combining them with others to form a general framework of learning competencies. This module will help you develop the competencies below to the levels specified. 
Learning Competency Additional Information Level

Collaboration

 The ability to learn from others; to understand and respect the needs, perspectives and actions of others (empathy); to understand, relate to and be sensitive to others (empathic leadership); to deal with conflicts in a group; and to facilitate collaborative and participatory problem solving. Advanced Beginner

Critical Thinking

 The ability to question norms, practices and opinions; to reflect on one’s own values, perceptions and actions. Competent

Systems Thinking

 The ability to recognize and understand relationships; to analyse complex systems; to think of how systems are embedded within different domains and different scales; and to deal with uncertainty. Competent

Strategic

 The ability to collectively develop and implement innovative actions that further sustainability at the local level and further afield. Expert

Integrated Problem Solving

 The overarching ability to apply different problem-solving frameworks to complex sustainability problems and develop viable, inclusive and equitable solution options that promote sustainable development, integrating the competencies in this list. Advanced Beginner

Self-awareness

 The ability to reflect on one’s own role in the local community and (global) society; to continually evaluate and further motivate one’s actions; and to deal with one’s feelings and desires. Novice

Normative

 The ability to understand and reflect on the norms and values that underlie one’s actions; and to negotiate values, principles, goals, and targets, in a context of conflicts of interest and trade-offs, uncertain knowledge and contradictions. Competent

Anticipatory

 The ability to understand and evaluate multiple scenarios for the future – possible, probable and desirable; to create one’s own visions for the future; to apply the precautionary principle; to assess the consequences of actions; and to deal with risks and changes. Expert

Digital Literacy and Judgement

 The ability to access, evaluate, create and communicate information in digital environments; to engage critically, ethically and responsibly with digital technologies and digital information; to understand their opportunities, limitations, risks and impact on individual’s digital identities; and to exercise informed judgement in digital participation and decision-making. Proficient

AI Literacy & Agency

 The ability to understand, critically evaluate and responsibly engage with artificial intelligence; to recognise how AI systems are shaped by human values; to assess their ethical, social and environmental implications; and to exercise human judgement, agency and accountability in AI-related contexts. Proficient

Wellbeing

 Wellbeing is having the resources and skills to meet life's challenges, including attributes such as personal development skills, resilience, stress management, strengths, lifestyle skills, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, alcohol/substance use, academic skills, time management, goal setting, interpersonal skills, group work, communication. Novice

The United Nations identified seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as core to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and UCD contributes in general to SDG 4 Quality Education. Further SDGs explored within this module if relevant are listed below. A scale of 1 - 5 indicates the extent to which the SDG is covered.


Goal Name Description Coverage

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 1

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls 1

Reduce inequality within and among countries 1
 

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Specified Learning Activities

26
Autonomous Student Learning

50
Lectures

24
Total

100

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
A variety of teaching methods will be used to stimulate participation and interaction with the module content. In particular, lectures will be supported by active participatory elements, such as short discussions or digital interactions. Thus, active participation is expected from students choosing the module.

In this module, the use of AI is encouraged as a learning tool.
Students are actively encouraged to engage critically with AI tools as part of their learning in this module. Appropriate
uses may include brainstorming, summarising material, and testing ideas. Any use of AI must be cited appropriately.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Quizzes/Short Exercises: Students participate in five biweekly online quizzes. Week 3, Week 5, Week 7, Week 9, Week 11 Graded No
10
 No
Exam (In-person): Students take a closed-book exam at the end of the semester. End of trimester
Duration:
2 hr(s)
 Graded No
70
 No
Group Work Assignment: Students work in groups to answer essay questions and solve a case-based problem. Week 9, Week 10, Week 11 Graded No
20
 No

As part of UCD's student support, under the Additional Consideration policy, extensions may be available for the following assessments in the module: Assignment (including essay/poster), Portfolio, Reflective Assignment, Report(s), and Individual Project.


Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Peer review activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Autumn Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - Autumn: All Weeks Tues 09:00 - 10:50
Print this page
Fill in the following details:
Enter the body of your query here.

From time to time UCD would like to send you further information that we feel, based on your enquiry, would be of interest to you.