Higher National Unit Specification
General information for centres
Unit title: Leading the Management of Change in Care Services
Unit code: DV0H 35
Unit purpose: To provide candidates with an understanding of a range of leadership and management approaches within care services.
On completion of the Unit the candidate should be able to:
1 Understand the major theoretical approaches informing effective leadership and management practice in care services.
2 Understand and analyse the main elements of organisational structure and culture and their effects on the operation of care services.
3 Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of major concepts of leadership and principles of motivation from a range of theoretical perspectives.
4 Understand various approaches to managing change in relation to care service organisations and methods of supporting individuals and teams.
Credit points and level: 2 HN Credits at SCQF level 8: (16 SCQF credit points at SCQF level 8*)
*SCQF credit points are used to allocate credit to qualifications in the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF). Each qualification in the Framework is allocated a number of SCQF credit points at an SCQF level. There are 12 SCQF levels, ranging from Access 1 to Doctorates.
Recommended prior knowledge and skills: Candidates should have at least two years experience at practitioner level, and preferably some experience of supervisory responsibilities in the care sector. Ideally they should also be qualified in HNC in Social Care, Health Care or Child Care and Education or SVQ3 in Care and/or equivalent at SCQF level 7 or above. Candidates without these qualifications would be required to demonstrate substantial care experience at a similar level of operation. Candidates should have good communication skills, which should be evidenced by an appropriate nationally recognised qualification such as Higher English, or the completion of a pre course interview, part of which should include an assessment of the candidate’s communication skills, both oral and written.
Core skills: There are opportunities to develop the Core Skills of Communication, Working with Others and Information Technology in this Unit, although there is no automatic certification of Core Skills or Core Skills components.’
Context for delivery: If this Unit is delivered as part of a Group Award, it is recommended that it should be taught and assessed within the subject area of the Group Award to which it contributes.
General information for centres (cont)
Assessment: In order to achieve this Unit, candidates are required to present sufficient evidence that they have met all the knowledge and skill requirements for each Outcome. Details of these requirements are given for each Outcome. An integrated approach to assessment is encouraged.
An understanding of both theory and its relation to practice are required for all Outcomes. Hence assessment must include both the requirement to discuss various issues and the ability to relate these to practice. Where candidates are already working in first line management they should write about real work situations. It is expected that candidates will be given some opportunity to develop experience in basic supervision such as being allocated responsibility for supervising a candidate, or for a particular project within the workplace. Assessment which relies solely on hypothetical situations will only be accepted in exceptional circumstances.
Higher National Unit specification: statement of standards
Unit title: Leading the Management of Change in Care Services
Unit code: DV0H 35
The sections of the Unit stating the Outcomes, knowledge and/or skills, and Evidence Requirements are mandatory.
Where evidence for Outcomes is assessed on a sample basis, the whole of the content listed in the knowledge and/or skills section must be taught and available for assessment. Candidates should not know in advance the items on which they will be assessed and different items should be sampled on each assessment occasion.
Outcome 1
Understand the major theoretical approaches informing management and leadership practice in care services
Knowledge and/or skills
¨ Traditional and contemporary approaches to management and leadership theory
¨ Theories that underpin management and leadership
¨ Values in care sector management including approaches designed to promote inclusion
Evidence Requirements
Candidates will need to provide evidence to demonstrate their knowledge and/or skills by showing that they can:
¨ evaluate the work of two contrasting theorists (one traditional, one contemporary) to demonstrate an understanding of management practice in care organisations (preferably the organisation in which the candidate is currently working)
¨ discuss the growth of managerialism and the development of corporate approaches in the care sector
¨ examine organisational ethics with a focus on application of professional codes of practice and national care standards
¨ analyse the effectiveness of approaches built on principles of managing for inclusion in care organisations including equal opportunities issues
¨ critically analyse the differences between management and leadership
Assessment guidelines
It is suggested that the assessment for this Outcome should be an analytical essay of about 1500 words which should include an evaluation of the candidate’s actual management and leadership practice in a care organisation. The assessment may also form part of an integrated project or Case Study which draws from other subjects in the Group Award.
Higher National Unit specification: statement of standards (cont)
Unit title: Leading the Management of Change in Care Services
Outcome 2
Understand and analyse the main elements of organisational structure and culture and their effects on the operation of care services
Knowledge and/or skills
¨ Models of organisational structure and their application in evaluating performance in care service organisations
¨ Models of organisational culture and their application in evaluating performance in care service organisations
¨ The relationship of an organisation’s value base to structure, culture and function
¨ Working across organisational boundaries
Evidence Requirements
Candidates will need to provide evidence to demonstrate their knowledge and/or skills by showing that they can:
¨ analyse major factors in organisational structures including organisational hierarchy and span of control, degree of centralisation and formalisation and the contrast between mechanistic and organic structures
¨ critically assess two contrasting theories of organisational culture
¨ discuss two strategies for managing and working across organisational boundaries including collaborative practices
¨ examine the relationship between structure, culture, values and power and its impact on the delivery of care services (preferably the candidate’s own organisation)
Assessment guidelines
Assessment for this Outcome may be integrated with Outcomes 3 and 4. Please see assessment section in Outcome 4 for details. It could also be part of an integrated project or Case Study.
Outcome 3
Critically evaluate theoretical concepts of motivation in relation to promoting organisational change in care services
Knowledge and/or skills
¨ Major content and process theories of motivation
¨ Attributes of managers and leaders
¨ Leading and managing change in care services
Higher National Unit specification: statement of standards (cont)
Unit title: Leading the Management of Change in Care Services
Evidence Requirements
Candidates will need to provide evidence to demonstrate their knowledge and/or skills by showing that they can:
¨ evaluate the usefulness of content and process approaches as analytical tools in assessing staff motivation and promoting change
¨ apply one model of motivation to analyse and improve performance in an actual work team
¨ critically evaluate the practical application of one approach to leadership in care services
¨ evaluate current personal leadership attributes
Assessment guidelines
Assessment for this Outcome may be integrated with Outcomes 2 and 4. Please see assessment section in Outcome 4 for details. It could also be part of an integrated project or Case Study
Outcome 4
Understand various approaches to managing change in relation to care service organisations and methods of supporting individuals and teams
Knowledge and/or skills
Candidates must demonstrate an understanding of:
¨ Theoretical approaches to change management
¨ Principles of managing and leading change and how organisational systems operate under conditions of change
¨ Theoretical approaches to understanding groups and teams
¨ Approaches to building and developing teams and aspects of communication, team roles, conflict and decision making in teams
¨ Teamwork theories which can be used to analyse the functions and performance of an actual work team
Evidence Requirements
Candidates will need to provide evidence to demonstrate their knowledge and/or skills by showing that they can:
¨ evaluate theoretical foundations of change management including individual perspective, group dynamic and open systems approaches
¨ examine aspects of managing change in organisations including types of change and ways of reducing resistance
¨ evaluate stages of group development and at least one theory of team roles and their use in building and maintaining effective teams
¨ analyse the influence of conformance, risky shift and group think phenomena on group decision making
¨ critically analyse the functioning and effectiveness of a work team in a care organization
Higher National Unit specification: statement of standards (cont)
Unit title: Leading the Management of Change in Care Services
¨ Demonstrate effective leadership of change within a team
Assessment guidelines
It is suggested that assessment for Outcomes 2, 3 and 4 be integrated in the form of a piece of work which involves individual candidates working as part of a group to produce a group presentation which covers a selection of material from each of the three Outcomes. This will essentially demonstrate the candidate’s ability to use theoretical constructs to analyse performance and lead a process of change in areas of structure, culture, leadership and motivation. The group should also submit the material used in the presentation in written form. Ideally the presentation would be recorded in electronic format and this could be used to give feedback to the group. Each candidate would be responsible for one aspect of the presentation but should be aware of the overall assignment. They should contribute to the evaluation process and should be able to review the whole project and not just their personal contribution.
Administrative Information
Unit code: DV0H 35
Unit title: Leading the Management of Change in Care Services
Superclass category: PM
Date of publication:
Version: 01
Source: SQA
© Scottish Qualifications Authority 2005
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Higher National Unit specification: support notes
Unit title: Leading the Management of Change in Care Services
This part of the Unit specification is offered as guidance. The support notes are not mandatory.
While the exact time allocated to this Unit is at the discretion of the centre, the notional design length is 80 hours.
Guidance on the content and context for this Unit
Although the Unit is expressed in generic terms, it should be related to the context in which the candidate is placed or employed.
Outcome 1
Candidates should be encouraged from the start to use theoretical constructs in management and leadership theory as useful tools which can be utilised to analyse and explain situations they will encounter in actual practice.
Candidates will be introduced to a historical overview which looks at the development of fundamental approaches to management theory. This will include an examination of classical, behavioural, contingency and systems approaches. The effectiveness and value of each of these approaches should be tested by applying them to contemporary situations in care service organisations.
Candidates should become familiar with the work of traditional theorists including the following:
¨ The work of Henri Fayol and his 14 principles of management.
¨ Frederick Taylor on the development of scientific management. This should include an examination of the possible continuing prevalence of this approach in the management of care services today and links to ideas of Fordism and rationalization. It should also include a critical view on this approach — the fudge factor element.
¨ The work of Weber on bureaucracy.
¨ The contributions of Elton Mayo and the development of the human relations school. This should include an examination of the Hawthorne experiments and the existence of the Hawthorne Effect.
¨ The work of Douglas McGregor and Theory X and Theory Y.
¨ The work of Rensis Likert and management systems.
Candidates will examine new contingency and systems models to examine work in care organisations. This could include recent work involving the use of approaches drawn from chaos theory which attempt to explain change in human service organisations.
An examination will be made of the trends towards the development of corporate approaches and the growth of managerialism in care services. This might include a critical examination of approaches involving ‘new public managerialism’. The more recent work of Charles Handy on corporations might be of use in this area.
Candidates should investigate issues about discrimination in the workforce with a particular emphasis on gender issues and management. They should also focus on issues about recognising and combating institutionalised discrimination.
Higher National Unit specification: support notes (cont)
Unit title: Leading the Management of Change in Care Services
Some work might also be considered on a ‘Managing for Inclusion’ approach where the focus of such management is on capacity building to enable broader participation in the process of making and implementing organisational decisions. This should include employees of public organisations as well as the people these organisations serve or interact with. Some of the work of John O’Brien may be useful here.
Outcome 2
This Outcome is designed to give candidates a comprehensive overview of how structural, cultural, values and function are all related and inter dependent. It should be stressed that some cultures and structures are more suited to the delivery of effective and ethical care services than others.
These factors should be taught as useful analytical tools. They should help candidates to understand the reasons for the difference in rhetoric and reality in the delivery of care services — the substantial gap which may exist between what an organisation says it does and what it actually does do.