Unit name | Organisational Complexity |
---|---|
Unit code | EFIMM0036 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
Unit director | Ms. Ballard |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
Successful completion of the three Certificate units: Leadership, Strategy and Organisation and Understanding Change and Uncertainty |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | School of Economics, Finance and Management |
Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit will introduce students to the various sources of complexity in modern organisations. Typical organisational responses will be reviewed along with tools from the world of systems thinking which can be employed to improve these responses.
In particular, the unit will introduce:
Examples will be drawn from strategic issues in business, the public sector and economic policy. Tools will be introduced to help students to construct dynamic diagrams which represent real world situations.
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
Lectures supported by interactive workshops, case studies and small group seminars
An individual written assignment of 4000 words will assess students’ ability to examine and critically evaluate current research into one of the key concepts explored during the unit. Students will be expected not only to analyse the core issues relating to contemporary thinking, but also to synthesise these with current practice – either from their own direct experience, or drawn from other relevant examples.
Texts:
Jackson MC (2003) Systems thinking: creative holism for managers. Wiley
Sherwood, D(2002) “Seeing the Forest for the Trees” Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
Balle, M (1994) “Managing with Systems Thinking” McGraw Hill.
Senge, P.M. (1990) “The Fifth Discipline” Doubleday
Brailsford S, Churilov L and Dangerfield B (Eds ) (2014) ‘Discrete Event Simulation and System Dynamics for Management Decision Making’, Wiley. Chapter 3: section on Systems Thinking only.
Articles:
Dangerfield, B (1999) “System Dynamics Applications to European Health Care Issues”, Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol.50, No.4, pp.345-353. Reprinted in: “Operational Research for Emergency Planning in Healthcare – Vol 2”, N Mustafee (Ed.), Palgrave Macmillan, 296-315, 2016.