J4YM04 Strategic Change Management Assignment Brief 2026 | PMU

J4YM04 Assignment Brief

COURSE/UNIT INFORMATION
Course	SCQF – LEVEL 11 EXTENDED DIPLOMA IN GLOBAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Course Level	Extended Diploma
Module Name	Strategic Change Management
Awarding Body	SQA
Module Code	J4YM04
Faculty	Dr. Nabil
ASSIGNMENT INFORMATION
Full/ Part Assignment	Full
Assignment brief IV by	Dr.Vivek Mohan
Assessor
Assignment due date	21.3.2026
TO BE FILLED BY THE STUDENT
Student Name
Student ID
Email ID
Date Submitted	19.3.2026
Turnitin ID	31634611
Turnitin Key	USW1010

Learning Outcome

1: Critically analyse the nature and context of change in organizations

• PC 1.1: Critically discuss the main principles of change management
• PC 1.2: Evaluate the scope of change management in an organisation
• PC 1.3: Critically analyse internal influences on change in organisations
• PC 1.4: Critically analyse external influences on change in organisations
• PC 1.5: Critically examine stakeholder management during a change management process.

2: Explore the issues and challenges during change management in organizations

• PC 2.1: Critically discuss the impact of organizational resistance on a change initiative
• PC 2.2: Critically analyse the different mechanisms by which potential barriers to change may be overcome
• PC 2.3: Critically examine the significance of interventions to the change process
• PC 2.4: Discuss how you would select the appropriate intervention style for a change initiative

3: Critically review the impact of leadership on change management

• PC 3.1: Critically analyse research and theory on the process of leadership in change management
• PC 3.2: Critically evaluate different leadership styles for taking individuals and teams through the process of change
• PC 3.3: Critically evaluate the models for managing change
• PC 3.4: Critically discuss the leader’s role in applying change management models in a business context

4: Design a change management process for an organisation

• PC 4.1: Determine the change vision for an organization
• PC 4.2: Assess the readiness of an organisation for a change initiative.
• PC 4.3: Design a change management process for an organisation.
• PC 4.4: Create a monitoring and evaluation framework model for managing a change initiative
• PC 4.5: Critically discuss how a monitoring and evaluation framework can be used to assess whether a change initiative has been a success.

Module Description

The goal of studying strategic change management is to acquire an in-depth knowledge about the factors that cause change, the nature and perspectives of organizational change, reactions and resistance to change, overcoming resistance to change and the impact of leadership and human behaviour on change management. In addition to these, theories and models of change management and stakeholder management will be explained in detail. By the end of this course, students will know the basics of strategic change management and its factors. In addition, students will also be able to manage organizational change by monitoring and evaluating the change process.

Expectations

1. Materials Access

All learning materials are provided in the form of a module kit and can be accessed from the Learning Management system (LMS)

2. Learning Hours

Students need to be aware of their commitment requirements in regard to study time. In order to give you an indication of that, we have based the following information on the United Kingdom (UK) Higher Education Quality Assurance Agency guidelines.  “The notional learning hours associated with qualifications, programmes and individual units of study are based on a broad agreement across institutions that students can expect to spend 10 hours learning on average in order to gain one academic credit unit” (QAA 2006).

3. Re-sit

If you do not secure a pass, please read closely the feedback and speak with your Course leader(s) or faculty. After consulting the feedback, close attention is essential to rework on the areas of weakness, and then resubmit the work at the next opportunity. As per the QAA requirements, only one REDO is allowed where the marks will be capped at a Pass.

4. Plagiarism

All forms of plagiarism are taken seriously, and any suspected cases will be investigated thoroughly. If a case is found proven then the work will be graded as a fail and the case will be reviewed by the academic committee.

5. Student appeals

There are no re-evaluations as the marks are graded and internally verified before release. However, as per our appeals policy, a student can make an appeal to the course leader which will be then reviewed by the academic committee (please check our academic policies and procedures manual for more information)

6. Assignment submission extension

Students can apply for extensions via the LMS based on extenuating circumstances (if any) with evidence (proof) as per our extensions policy

General Guidelines

1. Complete the ‘ To be filled by the student section’ in the cover page
2. All assignments must be submitted as an electronic document in MS word via the LMS (Use 12 Times New Roman script with 1.5 spacing between lines)
3. The results are declared only if the student has met the mandatory attendance requirement of 75% and/or minimum 50 % under extenuating circumstances approved and ratified by the academic committee and the examination board
4. The assignment should not contain any contents with references cited from websites such as com, styudymode.com, slideshare.net, scribd.com, Wikipedia but should contain references/citations from credible academic journal and articles.
5. Submit the assignment in MS word document with the file name being:

                             First Name Last Name _ Module Code

                             Example: John Smith_GM701

Checklist

Your assignment should meet the following requirements.

Please confirm this by ticking þ the boxes before submitting your assignment

o	I have filled the student Information columns above.
o	The contents of my assignment have been submitted to Turnitin and I have attached the Turnitin report
o	I have strictly followed Harvard Referencing Style and Citations.
o	I acknowledge and adhere to the institution's AI Policy Statement, ensuring the ethical and responsible use of AI tools, and confirm that all my submissions will reflect originality and integrity.
o	I declare that all websites and AI tools utilized during the preparation of this assignment comply with the AI Policy.

ASSIGNMENT TASK

Assignment Task 1 - Project Report [70 Marks]

Scenario

Choose an organization, preferably where you are working or familiar with, understand the standard operating procedures of your chosen organization and find suitable information related to the Strategic Change Management strategies. You need to apply key concepts of Strategic Change Management to answer and justify the questions following the scenario given below:

Organizations worldwide had a great impact facing challenges and uncertainties during the Covid-19 triggered Pandemic in 2020 which lead many organizations to close down their operations or/and adapt to disruptive alternatives and made a number of organizations to undergo change management strategies to compete and survive in the turbulent market conditions. Companies are striving for continuous improvement and trying to manage the changes effectively and efficiently in the present hard economic times. If you have been given an opportunity to act as a CHANGE MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT and implement changes in your chosen organization, what steps will you take into consideration while implementing the change management process in the following tasks given below. Prepare a Project Report of 5000 +- 10% (4500 to 5500) words that addresses the following questions:

1. Executive Summary [5 Marks] à 250 to 300 (after completing your content)

You should summarize your report briefly (hopefully no more than one page of A4 paper).

What you need to do:

• One page maximum
• The organization + change context (1 or 2 lines)
• What you have analysed (Lo1 and Lo2 in brief)
• Mention briefly the recommendations (3 to 5 actions)
• Expected outcomes of benefits

2. Introduction to Change Management [20 Marks] à 1500 to 1700

Introduce the chosen organization and critically discuss the concept of change management in detail with reference to four principles, concepts or theories and its importance in the chosen organization. You need to demonstrate a critical understanding of the different perspectives in change management such as contingency perspective, resource dependence and population- ecology perspectives. Next, you must evaluate the scope of change management in an organisation. Furthermore, you need to critically analyse the internal processes and external environmental conditions that influence the change to cope up with the challenges posed by the Covid-19 triggered market scenario. Also, you need to undertake a critical examination of the different principles, practices and perspectives involved in successful stakeholder management during the change management process.

A. Introduction of the Organization

• Industry, size, location/markets, main products/services
• Operation (how work gets done)
• Why COVID 19 forced change

B. Critical Discussion of Change Management (4 theories, concepts or principles)

• Define the concept of change
• Explain how it applies to the organization
• Compare/contrast the viewpoints
• Use academic citations (should be perfectly linked to the main referencing list that should be provided at the end of the report)
• Examples on some important choices

1. Kotter 8 steps models
2. ADKAR
3. McKinsey 7 s model
4. Any concept, theory or principle under Change Management

C. Change Management Perspectives

• Contingency Perspective:
• Resource Perspective
• Population-ecology perspective

D. Evaluation of the Change Management Scope

• Scope (how wide or deep the change is)
• Strategic VS Operational
• Incremental VS Transformational
• Affected functions and stakeholders
• Time horizon and complexity

E. Analyse the Internal Processes and the External Influences (Critical)

• Internal influences: (SW) cultures, Structure, leadership, skills, processes, systems, resources, power politics
• External influences (PESTLE the OW) à customer behaviour, suppliers.

F. Stakeholders Management and Engagement

• Follow the Stakeholder management process (Identify, Analyze, Plan, Manage, Engage, Evaluate)
• Use the Power/Interest Grid

3. Resistance to Change [15 Marks] à LO2 (1100 to 1300)

What kind of resistance would the organization face during the change management process?

You need to critically reflect upon the why change in organizations is met with resistance and how it impacts the organization. You will also critically discuss the resistance at individual, collective and organizational level and the key reasons for the same. Furthermore, you need to critically analyse and demonstrate the different ways in which the organization can overcome the resistance to change, using practical justifications to back up your analysis. Also, you will critically examine the different types of interventions and discuss how you have selected the appropriate intervention to apply for the particular change management process in the chosen organization.

• What resistance will occur in the organization
• Why Resistance happens à Individual level, collective, organizational

-Individual (Fear, WIIFM, skill gaps, job security…)

- Collective/team (group norms, peer pressure, formation of rumours, loss power, fear of loosing control..)

 - Organization (structural inertia, budgets, risk aversion, weak leadership, past failures, politics, change fatigue…)

• Impact on the change initiative
• How to go about overcoming the RTC that is developed + justifications

(Match the strategy with the cause of the RTC)

• Lack of understanding à communication +sensemaking
• Fear of incompetence à training coaching, capacity building, develop…
• Loss of power à participation, RACI, clarifying the roles and responsibilities
• Culture Missmatch à undergo cultural change, realign the rewards, role modelling

à  Change Interventions (mention the intervention + justification of selection)

• Coaching, team-building, role analysis, surveys, action plans, stakeholder interventions
• Explain why their chosen interventions as the best fit for the organisation and the type of change it is undergoing

N.B à we should always add practical examples (realistic from the organization) à Intext citations are VERY IMPORTANT à the same should be linked with a full reference at the bottom in the referencing list

4. Leadership and Change Management [15 Marks] à (LO3) à (1100 to 1300 words)

What is the role of leadership during the change management process? You need to plan and undertake a literature review and critically analyse of atleast 10 relevant academic articles that discuss research and theory on the process of leadership in change management. You may include up to three secondary literature reports on the theories and process of leadership in change management. Furthermore, you need to critically evaluate atleast 7 different leadership styles such as autocratic, authoritative, pacesetting, democratic, coaching, affiliative and laissez-faire and identify the suitable approach to successfully leading individuals and teams through the process of change in the chosen organization by giving an evidence based justification for your choice.  

SECTION A

• This is a Literature Review
• We need to look for 10 academic articles à critical analyze them (Leadership & Change Management)
• Add up to 3 secondary sources

What to be done:

• Group into themes: (communication, trust, psychological safety, vision, empowerment..)
• Compare authors (agree/ Disagree)
• Identify gaps (what is not addressed)
• Link to the organization (you chose)

Section B:

Evaluate at LEAST 7 Leadership Styles

Evaluation should include the below:

• Strength in change
• Risks/limitations
• Where it fits best
• Collect some evidence from research + scenarios from the organisation’

Section C

Choosing the most suitable leadership approach (based on evidence)

• Why this style (combination of styles) is best for the change initiative of the organization
• How will this chosen style move teams or team members through resistance and adoption (from being resistant to becoming adoptive)

5. Conclusions and Recommendations [15 Marks] à 800 to 900

You should summarize the main findings, including their implications, and provide recommendations that directly relate to this analysis.

• THIS IS NOT A REPETITIONà it must:
• Summarize the key findings (what matter the most)
• State the implications (what occurs if the change is ignored)
• Provide practical, and feasible recommendations à linked to you analysis
• Should be: measurable (who, what, when, highlight the outcome

Assignment Task 2 - Oral presentation – Voice over [30 marks] around LO4

You need to take on a consultant’s role and use the chosen organization in Task 1 for designing the change management process and make an Oral Presentation on the same.

You must determine how the organisation should respond to the change stimulus outlined in Task 1 and work up a vision of what that change (and what success) would look like and the expected benefits for the organisation. The concepts and ideas contained within this vision should be represented in diagrammatic/pictorial format. Next, you need to apply analytical tools and models to assess the readiness of the chosen organisation to respond to the change stimulus. This may include reference to the culture of the organisation, the strategy, the risks involved and the organization’s risk appetite, and also internal and external factors and stakeholders as discussed in Task 1. Further, you must critically evaluate at least four different change management models (from Lewin’s Change Management Model; McKinsey 7-S Model; Nudge Theory; The ADKAR Change Management Model; Kübler-Ross Change Curve; Bridges’ Transition Model; Satir Change Model; Kotter’s theory and Maurer 3 Levels of Resistance and Change Model; Deming Cycle (PDCA)), giving the positive and negative features of each and choose the appropriate model(s) and strategy for change management in the organization. You will design the process for putting the change initiative in place giving a description of the process, what needs to be implemented, who needs to carry out the change and the timelines involved. In this process, it is necessary to demonstrate a critical understanding of the role of leadership in applying the appropriate change management model(s). Furthermore, you will design your own monitoring and evaluating framework to be used for managing a change initiative and critically discuss how this monitoring and evaluation framework can be used to demonstrate that intended outputs and outcomes have been achieved.

Important Guidelines for the presentation are as follows: -

1. Learners are requested to use PowerPoint presentations (10-15 slides) to make the presentation.
2. This is an individual presentation; learners are requested to prepare and submit Task 2 individually.
3. There is no specific structure as such for the presentation, any structure can be followed, and the learners are encouraged to be creative at the same time to make the presentation academically relevant.
4. Learners should record and submit their presentation in the LMS.

Note: You should use the same organization of TASK 1

It should run around the below elements:

1.  Vision
2. readiness to change
3. evaluation of models
4. choosing the most suitable model and highlighting why
5. setting the implementation plan
6. Role of Leadership
7. M & E Framework

PPT Structure:

1. Title + your role (Consultant) + you mention the Chosen Organization
2. Change Stimulus (COVID/turbulent external environment) + Mention the problem Statement
3. Change Vision: “What Success would look like?’’ + mention the benefits (include diagrams pictures, illustrations…)
4. Stakeholder Map (Power-Interest Grid )+ mention the key concerns
5. Readiness Analysis tool 1 (culture, appetite, risk)
6. Readiness Analysis tool 2 (interna/external factors)
7. To 10 or 11 Compare MINIMUM 4 Change Models (from the ones covered in class) Pros / cons for each of the highlighted models
8. Mention the selected model + mention why it best fits your case
9. Come up with the implementation roadmap (phases + timeline + owners)
10. Highlight the role of leadership (what leaders should do in each of the stages)
11. M and E framework (KPIs, milestones, adoption metrics
12. Closing: Key takeaways + few recommendations.

Performance Descriptors

Performance descriptors indicate how marks will be arrived at against each of the above criteria. The descriptors indicate the likely characteristics of work that is marked within the percentage bands indicated.

	(70-100%) Work of an outstanding standard	(60-69%) Work of a good standard	(50-59%) Work of a pass standard	(40-49%) Fail (Resubmission allowed)	(0-39%) Fail (Resubmission not allowed)
Executive Summary (5 marks)	Exemplary summarization of the report.	Competent summarization of the report.	Basic summarization of the report.	Weak summarization of the report.	Poor summarization of the report.
Introduction to Change Management (20marks)	Exemplary compilation with detailed background on concepts of change management and its impact on the chosen organization. Mature links made between relevant ideas, theories and practice in change management. Extensive range of relevant sources are identified and used. An argumentative perspective is presented demonstrating originality and creativity in the interpretation of the scope of change management related to the chosen organization. No obvious errors in referencing or grammar or syntax.	Competent compilation with sufficient background on concepts of change management and its impact on the chosen organization. Sound links made between relevant ideas, theories and practice in change management. A sufficient range of relevant sources are identified and used. An evocative perspective is presented in the interpretation of scope of change management related to the chosen organization. Negligible errors in referencing or grammar or syntax.	Basic compilation with sufficient background on concepts of change management and its impact on the chosen organization. Average links made between relevant ideas, theories and practice in change management. A very limited range of relevant sources are identified and used. A descriptive perspective is presented in the interpretation of legislations related to scope of change management related to the chosen organization. Evident errors in referencing or grammar or syntax.	Weak compilation with sufficient background on concepts of change management and its impact on the chosen organization. Superficial links made between relevant ideas, theories and practice in change management. An insufficient range of relevant sources are identified and used. A vague perspective is presented in the interpretation of scope of change management related to the chosen organization. Repeated errors in referencing or grammar or syntax.	Poor compilation with sufficient background on concepts of change management and its impact on the chosen organization. Sketchy links made between relevant ideas, theories and practice in change management. No relevant sources are identified or used. No perspective is presented in the interpretation of scope of change management related to the chosen organization. Too many errors in referencing or grammar or syntax.
Resistance to Change (15 marks)	The work thoroughly examines the scenario and how resistance to change manifests in the organization. Highly practical justifications are provided to overcome barriers to change. Illustrations and Tables are properly captioned.	The work examines the scenario and how resistance to change manifests in the organization. The outcomes are good. Some sound justifications are provided to overcome barriers to change. Illustrations and Tables are captioned.	A reasonably well examination of the scenario and how resistance to change manifests in the organization. The outcomes are obvious. Considerable justifications are provided to overcome barriers to change. Illustrations and Tables are not necessarily captioned.	The examination of the scenario and how resistance to change manifests in the organization is not done well. The outcomes are sketchy. The justifications provided to overcome barriers to change are weak. Illustrations and Tables are not captioned.	The examination of the scenario and how resistance to change manifests in the organization is not well done. The outcomes are poor. Failure to provide justifications to overcome barriers to change.
Leadership and Change Management (15 marks)	An exceptional analysis of the role of leadership in change management process is developed. Summarizes and shows insightful synthesis of the literature information including identification and analysis of gaps. Strong linkage is established among the different leadership styles and its impact on change management. No obvious errors in referencing or grammar or syntax.	A good analysis of the literature is developed. Summarizes and shows sound synthesis of the literature information, including identification and analysis of gaps. Good linkage is established among the different leadership styles and its impact on change management. Negligible errors in referencing or grammar or syntax.	A basic analysis of the literature is developed. Descriptive presentation of the literature information. Limited identification but no analysis of gaps. Average linkage is established among the different leadership styles and its impact on change management. Evident errors in referencing or grammar or syntax.	A weak analysis of the literature is developed. Mere compilation of information. Includes no identification and analysis of gaps. No linkage is established among the different leadership styles and its impact on change management. Repeated errors in referencing or grammar or syntax.	A poor analysis of the literature is developed. No synthesis of the literature information. Identification and analysis of gaps is absent. No linkage is established among the different leadership styles and its impact on change management. Too many errors in referencing or grammar or syntax.
Recommendations and Conclusions (15 marks)	Well-organized, logical, fully supported by evidence, conclusions clear and arise from results/discussion; practical and feasible, with clear consideration of change management issues. Recommendations driven by good deductions from findings.	Well-organized, logical, supported by evidence, conclusions fairly clear and arise from results & discussion; practical and feasible, with clear consideration of change management issues. Recommendations driven by decent deductions from findings.	Reasonably well-organized, logical, generally supported by evidence, conclusions fairly clear and arise from results & discussion; practical and feasible, with un clear or weak consideration of change management issues. Recommendations not always driven by good deductions.	Poor organization; gaps in reasoning; some obvious conclusions omitted for the list; other conclusions not especially driven by the findings but from ‘common sense’. No real implications and recommendations weak and incoherent.	Assertions are little related to evidence, frequently illogical or arbitrary; conclusions if presented are disorganized; alternatives not considered; no real understanding of the need to draw conclusions, implications and recommendations from results.

	(70-100%) Work of an outstanding standard	(60-69%) Work of a good standard	(50-59%) Work of a pass standard	(40-49%) Fail (Resubmission allowed)	(0-39%) Fail (Resubmission not allowed)
Presentation (30 marks)	Excellent preparation and planning of content which was well organised. Confident delivery of the presentation slides. Presentation flowed well, without hesitation or pauses by the learner or confusion from the audience. Content of slides was clear with uncluttered text and highly technically competent with exceptional graphics or diagrams that were all relevant and helped to put point across. The link between analysis and recommendation was clear and justified with evidence. Questions were responded to adeptly and showed outstanding knowledge of findings of investigation.	Good preparation and planning of content with good organization. Strong delivery of the presentation slides. Presentation flowed well, with hardly any hesitation or pauses by the learner or confusion from the audience. Content of slides was quite clear with uncluttered text and technically competent with good graphics or diagrams that were all relevant and helped to put point across. The link between analysis and recommendation was strong and justified with evidence. Questions were responded to adeptly and showed good knowledge of findings of investigation.	Average preparation and planning of content with basic organization. Average delivery of the presentation slides. Presentation flowed well, with very less hesitation or pauses by the learner or confusion from the audience. Content of slides was average with uncluttered text and the technical competent demonstrated was average as well with some graphics or diagrams that were relevant and helped to put point across. The link between analysis and recommendation was average and justified with reasonable evidence. Response to questions was average and showed basic knowledge of findings of investigation.	Poor preparation and planning of content with poor organization as well. Weak delivery of the presentation slides. Presentation flow was ok, with some hesitation or pauses by the learner or confusion from the audience. Content of slides was a bit cluttered and demonstrated very little technical competence with very less use of graphics or diagrams that were relevant and helped to put point across. The link between analysis and recommendation was sketchy and justified with some evidence. Response to questions was weak and showed superficial knowledge of findings of investigation.	No preparation and planning of content which has not been organized. Poor delivery of the presentation slides. Presentation flow was poor, with lots of hesitation or pauses by the learner or confusion from the audience. Content of slides very cluttered and demonstrated no technical competence with no use of graphics or diagrams that were relevant and helped to put point across. The link between analysis and recommendation was unclear and no justification or evidence provided. Response to questions was poor and showed no knowledge of findings of investigation.

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