72629 - Intervention in Organizations (Organizational Change and Development)

Learning outcomes

Students at the end of this course know and comprehend main intervention theories and techniques in Work, Organizational and Personnel Psychology, and main evaluation methods in these fields. Particularly, for what concerns:

a) Organizational Change and Development, students know main contextual, intra-organizational, social and individual factors promoting or hindering change, procedures for planned change and how to evaluate outcomes of interventions;

b) Evaluation techniques, students know how to define the aims of psychological interventions, how to evaluate interventions, collect data and make recommendations within organizations.

 

Course contents

First part

1. Theories of organizational change

2. Levels of change: individual, group, organization

3. Organizational diagnosis and organizational well-being

4. Resistances and how to overcome resistances to change

5. Classification of main intervention techniques

6. Organizational development

7. Process Consultancy.

8. Action research

 

 

Second part

1. Steps, principles and methodology of the design of change interventions

2. Evaluation processes and principles

3. Evaluation research: research designs to evaluate WOP-P interventions (quasi experimental and longitudinal designs, within subjects and single case design, behavioral approach)

4. Procedures and techniques to collect data: test and questionnaires, observation, interview, case studies

5. Research and evaluation communication

Readings/Bibliography

First part

- Burke W. (2010) Il cambiamento organizzativo, teoria e pratica, Milano: F. Angeli (saltare l’Introduzione, parr. 4.5 e 4.6; 8.2, 8.5 e 8.6; no capitolo 12 e capitolo 14)

- Schein E.H. (2010). Le forme dell’aiuto. Milano: R. Cortina (capp. da 3 a 8).

- an empirical paper, selected from a list of papers (students will work in team: each team will select one paper from the list, then other two papers n the same topic will be autonomously found by the team using PsicInfo).

 

 

Second part

a) Leone L., Prezza M. (2002) Costruire e valutare i progetti nel sociale, Milano: Franco Angeli (capp. 2, 3, e 5).

b) Fraccaroli F., Vergani A. (2004) Valutare gli interventi formativi, Roma, Carocci.

c) Komaki J., Goltz S. (2001) Within-group research designs: going beyond program evaluation questions, in Merle Johnson, Redmon, Mawhinney, Handbook of organizational performance, New York: Haworth Press (pp. 81-86, 92-106).

d) Pawson R. & Tilley N. (2004) Realist evaluation (paper disponibile sulla piattaforma moodle)

e) Three short empirical papers:

- Staats, H; van Leeuwen, E; Wit, A (2000) A longitudinal study of informational interventions to save energy in an office building, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 33(1), pp. 101 – 104.

- Ludwig, TD; Gray, TW; Rowell, A (1998) Increasing recycling in academic buildings: A systematic replication, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 31(4), pp. 683 – 686.

- Kneringer, MJ; Page, TJ (1999) Improving staff nutritional practices in community-based group homes: Evaluation, training, and management, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 32(2), pp. 221 – 224.

Teaching methods

Each part-module of the course will use one or more of the following teaching methods:

- lectures,

- audiovisual methods,

- practitioner's report/guest lectures,

- small group discussions,

- students oral presentation,

- case study assignments and reports.

Assessment methods

First part

1. Traditional examination: open and closed questions about curse topics (up to 25 points)

2. Group report on an issue discussed in the program (a theory, a method, an aspect of the intervention project, and so on). Each team will select a paper from a list provided by the professor and will autonomously find other two papers using PsycInfo (up to 20 points)

3. Reaction paper on a technique of intervention (up to 5 points)

    

   Second part

1. Simulation: in groups of three persons, students will be involved in a design exercise. Some teams will play the role of managers of a company and others of consultancy companies. The exercise aims to familiarize with the design procedure. The intervention proposals will be presented at the end of the module. (up to 10 points).

2. an evaluation proposal: in groups of three persons, students will design an evaluation project assessing efficacy, effectiveness, or similar, of an intervention. The intervention will concern: a) a project developed by students in another course of the master, or b) a real project developed in a real organization or presented by some consultant at classes (up to 30 points).

Teaching tools

Each part-module of the course will use one or more of the following teaching methods:

- lectures,

- audiovisual methods,

- video projector

- group case study and small rooms for work groups.

 

Office hours

See the website of Salvatore Zappalà