ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the detailed story of the main case study in this book: the New Directions change programme at the Open University (OU). The first section describes the UK’s Open University which is the setting for the case study. Thus this section is primarily descriptive in order to provide background and context. It outlines the history, structure and culture of the University and sets the stage for the launch of the programme. The next section describes the programme, its birth and development, and the range of activities that it undertook or was associated with, within its organizational context. The chapter then moves on to consider the programme as an innovative learning process for change, reviewing some of the underlying processes and principles at work with particular reference to the 1994 conference, the work of the volunteer teams and the emergence of a democratic strategic action plan. It also reviews briefly the evidence presented in the light of the strategic change models discussed in Chapter 4, especially the learning organization model.
