Student Guide

BSBLDR801 Lead personal and strategic transformation

Contents
Overview 3
Content 4
Learning outcomes 5
Topic 1: Organisational change and personal efficacy 6
Topic 2: Lead in a transformational manner 16
Topic 3: Model and cultivate collaborative thinking 19
Topic 4: Provide strategic leadership during change processes 30
Review and assessment 34
Overview
The Student Guide should be used in conjunction with the recommended reading and any further
course notes or activities given by the trainer/assessor.

Topics Content

Topic 1: Organisational change and personal  Organisational change

efficacy
 Need for change

 Organisational transformation

 Change leaders and personal efficacy

 Management theories, personal efficacy

for strategic transformation

Topic 2: Lead in a transformational manner  Organisation development practitioner

 Selecting change practitioner

Topic 3: Model and cultivate collaborative  Collaborative thinking and organisational

thinking transformation

 Collaborative thinking strategies

Topic 4: Provide strategic leadership during  Effective change management strategies

change processes

Unit review and assessment tasks

Recommended text
The following text is recommended for this unit:
Hayes. J 4ed.The practice and Theory of Change Management (2014):

 Chapter 3: Recognising the need for change

Waddell. D.M, Cumming. T.G, Worley. C. G 4ed. Organisational Change Development &
Transformation (2011):

 Chapter 2: Theories of change

 Chapter 3: Leadership and the role of change agent

 Chapter 4: managing resistance and organisational culture

 Chapter 6: OD interventions: people and process

 Chapter 9: Organisation transformation and change

Content
The Student Guide includes:

 topics for the unit

 activities

 links to websites containing relevant information (if the links are broken, copy and paste into a
web browser).

Activities
The trainer/assessor will provide a simulated work environment therefore, the activities provided in
the Student Guide:

 reflect real life work tasks

 are performed to industry safety requirements as relevant

 use authentic workplace documentation

 require you to work with others as part of a team

 require you to plan and prioritise competing work tasks

 involve the use of standard, workplace equipment such as computers and software

 take into consideration workplace constraints such as time and budgets

 will either be self-directed or carried out as part of group or team work

 require you to read through the activity carefully and ask the trainer/assessor for guidance if
needed

 will have time allocated for completing the activity, along with time for class discussion and
feedback
Some activities may require you to submit work to the trainer/assessor for feedback. Where this is
the case it will be indicated at the bottom of the activity.

Video clips
 If presented in class, take part in any class discussions, providing feedback and contributing to
debate and arguments.

 If directed to watch the video as part of self-study, or independently in class, take notes so
contributions to any future class discussions can be made.

Roleplays
The trainer/assessor will direct class roleplays.
When undertaking these activities ensure that you understand the purpose of the roleplay and take
part as if you are in a professional situation to provide your fellow classmates with a true-to-life
experience. Roleplays rely on your ability to act in a manner that imitates real-life situations and
can provide you with depth of understanding and practical skills.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this unit, you will be able to have the skills and knowledge required to analyse and
improve personal leadership style and professional competence and to lead organisational
transformation and learning for strategic outcomes.
Outcomes include:

 Reflecting on personal efficacy

 Leading in a transformational manner

 Modelling and cultivate collaborative thinking

 Providing strategic leadership during change processes

Topic 1: Organisational change and personal efficacy

Organisational Change
Organisational change is a process of changing an organisation’s systems, processes, procedures,
technology and culture and climate to achieve desired performance. It is about adopting a new idea
or modifying employees’ behaviour to achieve results.
Organisation change involves dealing with changes on a daily basis; however, organisational
strategic change is a transformation process where changes are planned and aligned with an
organisation’s strategic objectives, goals and vision. Top management of an organisation ensures
that their business is agile to adapt to the competitive business environment they operate in.
Changes in customer needs, wants and preferences, supply chains and technology are requiring
enterprises to listen, innovate and become agile. Companies, just like humans, need to change the
way business is done and become agile in order to respond to the changing industry platforms. If
businesses ignore this pressing need for ongoing change, they risk becoming like the dinosaurs of
the past: once omnipresent and dominant, but now extinct because of their failure to adapt to
changing conditions. Workplaces that implement organisational changes effectively report
increased levels of staff satisfaction, lower levels of staff turnover, greater willingness by workers to
implement new ideas, a more supportive working environment and less contestation of
organisational directives and goals.

Organisational change = enhanced efficiency, operational

excellence, improved quality, reduced costs, getting it right the first
time, greater revenue and happy customers.
The process of effective organisational change involves a leadership and management style that
engages workers and inspires them to see the reasons for change. Effective management
influences the behaviours of workers and in creating a positive organisational environment for
change to occur. Effective organisational changes require employee and management
participation, clear and concise communication, quicker identification and resolution of problems,
lower levels of workplace conflict and higher levels of productivity. As the organisation journeys
through the change process, effective employee-management participation is the key to influence
employees’ knowledge and awareness about their business, why change is crucial which in turn
dramatically increases employees ‘buy in’ and commitment to change. Additionally, another
important aspect of successful organisational change implementation is the need to develop
employees so they have the skills and knowledge to actively manage problems and conflict,
effectively cooperate and collaborate on operational matters, generate solutions, negotiate more
efficiently, be more empathetic and able to contribute to a workplace culture that better supports
and reflects the needs and objectives of the organisation. In a nutshell, organisational changes are
targeted towards increasing the competitive advantage of the business in its marketplace.
Need for change
Organisational changes happen in many ways and managers may have their own reasons for
change such as their perceptions of biases, assumptions and beliefs that could possibly sabotage
workplace culture and productivity resulting in negative profit outcomes. Therefore, it is important
that managers and leaders must at least be aware of various views on changes and in order to
underpin valid and justified reasons for change. So, what are the common types of changes that
occur in an organisation? According to Waddlell, Cummings &Worley, Organisational Change
Development & Transformation (2011)
1. Organisational development (OD) – is a planned development and reinforcement of
organisational strategies, processes, practices and structure to achieve overall
organisational effectiveness. Changes during OD are incremental, proactive, internal
focused, long term, normal, stable, process orientated and impacts the whole system.
2. Organisational transformation (OT) – is a reactive or every now and then an intense
dramatic response to external pressures in which an organisation operates. Changes
during OT are unplanned, short term, external focused, unstable, short term and specific
focused.

OD is usually a desired state for organisations; however, managers must be prepared and have the
skills, knowledge and ability to respond to external pressures by adopting to an organisation
transformation strategy.
Data for organisational analysis can be obtained through the following methods:

 Business intelligence reports generated by various stakeholders within an organisation.

Specialist information in form of reports from business functions such finance, human
resource, information and technology, customer service team, sales and marketing,
production, and research and development can help understand business’s past performance,
forecast and valid need for expanding into international markets.

 Government and industrial institutes’ play an important role in establishing legislations, acts
and laws, policies, codes of practices, and rules for operating in and out of their countries.
Information and advice on national or international markets can be easily accessed by
government websites and government agencies.

 Seek paid professional advice from reputable business consultants on marketing, capital
investment and business planning and execution strategies. Austrade and
www.business.com.au provide a range of services to businesses including financial advice
and information on grants for national businesses and businesses that seek to operate
overseas.
Organisational transformation
Organisational transformation is an evolving part of organisational development. It arises in
response to, or in an anticipation of, major variations in an organisation’s environment or
technology. Transformational organisation change, or strategic organisation transformation, is not
only characterised by changes to systems, and process but also by how the people of an
organisation think, perceive and act in their organisation. Strategic transformations require shaking
up the status quo and altering the prevailing assumptions on how organisations operate. The
strategic transformation entails a shift in corporate values, norms, behaviours to adopt to radical or
emerging changes in its environment.

A large number of organisations undertake strategic transformation due to the following disruptions:
1. Industry discontinuity – major changes in the organisation’s political, economic, legal and
technical conditions occurring due to shifting competition in the industry.
2. Product cycle shift – product life cycle that require changes to different strategies because
the prevailing strategies become obsolete and do not maximise profits returns
3. Internal company dynamics – changes in company size, portfolio, structure or leadership
turnovers.

Proactive organisations regularly scan their external environment (political, economic, social, legal,
environmental and technological) for developments so that they can make informed management
decisions.
Strategic transformation involves major changes to an organisation which encompasses:
1. Systematic and revolutionary changes in the leadership styles, HR department, information
technology and organisation structure ideally to motivate works employee behaviour
towards new strategic direction
2. New organisational paradigms such as shift in mental and organisation framework where
there is strong emphasis on continuous learning and improvement, employee participation
involved decision making, leaner and flat organisations and or customer service
excellence.
3. Driven by senior executives and line managers who:
o Envision or articulate credible organisation visions, goals for the new changes

o Energise, communication and demonstrate personal excitement, model behaviours

and attitudes expected of employees and management for the new changes
o Enable management team and employees by providing them resources and
reinforce good behaviours that support the change process
4. Significant learning, creativity and innovation that lead to new behaviours, better systems
and processes and agile organisations.
Change leaders and personal efficacy
Leadership is a person’s ability and willingness to take ownership and management of the entire, or
parts of, an organisation. They have an intrinsic drive to do what is best for the organisation and
have the drive to influence and change workplace behaviour needed for organisational success.
Their personal skills to articulate vision, knowledge to build strategies and ability to model
behaviours for change are also extremely important. For the purpose of implementing
transformational organisational changes, leaders and managers need to understand their own
skills, attitudes and behaviour and even conduct a self-check to determine any gaps that they need
to improve or acquire.