PROJECT QUESTION
You are required to participate in a small scale individual/ pair based project to examine and
critique a report of an organisational change process in an existing organization in your own
country context. The project should consist of a researched report of any organization which has
experienced a significant change situation over the past few years. The examination of the
selected organization should focus on
o change process/ events
o phases or stages ( including the use of change theories or best practices)
o outcomes and
o leadership role employed to affect the change and
o a critique / analysis of the organization’s overall change process.
The examination of the organization should use the theories, principles and practices discussed
in the class. Your report should be based on semi – structured interviews with some senior and
mid – management participants, published articles and books about the organization, annual
reports, press releases and / or other relevant materials. In critically analysing the overall change
process in the organization, you will need to look at organisation from a distance and evaluate it
from an external observer/ consultant’s viewpoint. Suggest recommendations and practical
advice on how the change should have been implemented to better maintain the viability of the
organization in the market
Guide to writing reports
Standard formats exist for the structure of a report, which will normally contain the following:
o Title page
o Table of contents
o Acknowledgements
o Executive Summary
o Introduction
o Literature Review
o Methodology
o Findings/ Conclusions
o Recommendations
o Appendices
o References
The Acknowledgements are an opportunity to identify important change agents within the
organisation who have helped you with the most important aspects of the report’s production. By
sharing the credit you gain a valuable reputation as a team player. You also spread the
responsibility for awkward issues raised and difficult decisions proposed: it is harder for people
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to reject your conclusions outright, if you can identify the Chief Executive as a key figure in
drawing up your terms of reference and gathering your data. But avoid ‘Oscar night syndrome’:
the urge to thank everyone, down to your remotest ancestors, who has made the slightest
contribution to your night of glittering triumph. This tempts readers to fast forward before your
peroration reaches its climax.
The Summary should outline both the main findings and recommendations. Busy senior staff
will read only this section. However, the rest of the report lends authority to the summary.
Readers who query a particular finding or recommendation can delve into the appropriate section
in more depth, to reassure themselves that you have done your homework, and that your
conclusions rest on solid evidence rather than an unstable mixture of hype and hope. Such
supporting testimony is excised from the summary, which needs to combine brevity with a
comprehensive account of the most salient issues