This is the step that allows you to anchor the changes into the organizational culture. In this step you are ensuring that this is not a flavor of the month approach to change in your organization. This is where culture is sustained in an organization. By following these action steps, you will gain the support for initiating the next big change that your organization will need to succeed.
Remember change doesn’t become lasting unless it has a positive impact on the organization as a whole.
Leading change in any organization is like training for and running a marathon. It will take intentionality. It will be at times painful. It will require new ways of thinking and doing. It will require consistency. It will require tenacity to sustain the course.
In my work and research, organizational transformation is almost always preceded by individual leader transformation. If leaders lack the tenacity to sustain the course and see transformation in themselves, they will be unable to lead the transformation necessary in institutionalizing the change.
You will be asked to complete article reviews. You find the instructions and tips on how to complete an article review here and you may always find these instructions in the navigation bar at the top of the page.
You will be asked to review multiple research articles during this course. It is important that you use the following steps to conduct your review.
- Read the article Abstract. But don’t stop at the abstract. It doesn’t tell the full story. It is merely an overview. You will only cheat yourself if you stop there.
- What are your assumptions based on the title, and the abstract? What do you think this will be about? What are your assumptions based on that?
- Review the reference list. Have you read any of the articles listed? Should you consider reading them?
- Read through the article once, as you read through the article, after each paragraph jot down one or two words that summarizes the paragraph. Are you able to identify fact from opinion in the article? Can you sense the author’s bias?
- Read the article again, many research articles (especially meta-analysis: which is a review of multiple research articles on the same topic) are complex and include complicated wording and statistics. You may need to read the article multiple times to get a full understanding of it.
- Factors to find answers to:
• What is the research question?
• How was the study conducted?
• What is the design of the research?
• What materials did the authors use to conduct the research?
• What procedures did the authors use to conduct the research?
• What is the Dependent/Independent variables in the study?
• How was the data analyzed?
• What are the results of the study?
• What are the implications of the study for practice? For additional research?
These are important elements included in research that is conducted. Being able to answer these questions will ensure your ability to fully understand the research - So what? This is the part where you think about the application of this to you, your work, your organization, your role. So, what are you going to do with this information?
When writing your summary, you must include all parts of Step 6 (one paragraph for each factor. Remember a paragraph is made up of 4-5 sentences). And a professional response to step 7. Your peers will evaluate you on your summary.
