Program Overview

AGB260 Rural Change (Inquiry Tools)

Rural Change (Inquiry Tools) provides an array of models and tools for managing change in organisations and communities. It is designed to provide the theoretical underpinning of interventions needed to manage change in the applied subject Rural Change (Industry Project) which is a Stage 3 subject. By the end of the subject, students can expect to understand:

• Models of change
• The management of change in organisations and communities
• Soft Systems Methodology as a tool for managing complexity
• Action Learning/Action Research

Subject Information

Grading System

HD/FL

Duration

One session

School

School of Rural Management

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:

• Be able to compare and contrast various models of change
• Be able to explore the relationship between personal values, attitudes, and styles of interaction
• Be able to demonstrate an understanding of how organisations work
• Be able to identify different groupings of people, households, and organisations which are commonly labelled 'community' and discuss their various purposes
• Be able to advise a community on an appropriate change management strategy for the issues confronting that community
• Be able to select various change management strategies and processes available to a community
• Be able to describe the differences between human activity systems and biophysical systems
• Be able to analyse a human activity system using rich picturing and mind mapping techniques
• Be able to apply soft systems techniques to start to develop models of change to improve a situation
• Be able to explain the role of action research in change management

Syllabus

This subject will cover the following topics:

• Module 1: What is change? Models of change, Change in organisations
• Module 2: Change in rural communities
• Module 3: Managing complexity, Soft Systems Methodology to solve complex issues, Research methodologies and change management