The program is delivered in four 1-week modules, structured to emphasize the complex nature of change in today’s organizational environments.
Executives enrolled in the program will be exposed to a change leadership curriculum that is both grounded in traditional psychological and business principles but also focused on working with and managing change in organizational environments of the future.
Course content and learning objectives reflect professionally documented competencies essential for successful change leaders and are sequenced to emphasize the multi-level, complex nature of change in today’s organizations. Executives will learn about change-related topics at the societal, organizational, group and individual levels and will be asked to integrate their own learning and professional development through action research projects, cultural immersion events and participation in discussion-based reflective practice courses.
The curriculum for the Executive Masters Program is comprised of three components. Executives will enroll in 12 “core” content areas that reflect today’s best thinking regarding the fundamental knowledge, skills and abilities required for leading organization change. These content areas are sequenced across four Learning Modules, each of which focuses on a different aspect or level of change in organizations (e.g., system, group, individual). For more information about each Module, click the links below.
In addition to the core content, two “integrative” practica have also been developed to assist the translation and application of core concepts to the actual work environment, namely through action research and individual and group reflection. These integrative practica span the length of the entire program and will have several components that occur in the liminal spaces between modules.
“I’m looking towards more complex problems and creating effective partnerships with other practitioners and I’ve realized it’s really valuable to have access to the Organizational Development language we’re learning in XMA. Change is not going to be something that’s initiated by just one individual. Back at our organizations, we are not going to be able to achieve anything alone. At Google, our work, our success, and our projects are all based on team success. And so being able to communicate change in a clear way is of the utmost importance.” - Alana Weiss, Google
All integrative and cultural practica are part of the formal curriculum and will be taken for credit.
The applied change project (ACP) is an action research project that is designed to increase individual and organizational capacity for leading and managing change. A cornerstone of the Executive Masters Program and a key requirement for successfully completing the degree, the ACP requires executives to engage in an actual organization development (OD) consultation, either with their own organization or with a client organization, while receiving coaching and supervision from expert program faculty.
Successfully fulfilling the requirements of the ACP involves mastering both the key features of OD consulting (e.g., entry, contracting, diagnosis, intervention, evaluation) and the basic principles of applied and action research. All consultations and interventions are expected to be rigorous, theory-based and empirically-driven, and assisting individuals in meeting these criteria is an integral part of the Executive Masters Program experience.
“We’re tackling the issue of the culture of people not speaking up. If people don’t speak up then there’s no diversity of views from which to make decisions. And therefore we are poorer for it and we will not be able to compete as well in the marketplace for the next 15 years.” - Peter Goh, Government of Singapore Investment Corporation
Those who wish to apply to the program are not required to know the specifics of their project prior to starting the first course module, but they must demonstrate organizational sponsorship from the eventual site of the consultation as part of their admission requirements.