Challenges of leading change
This taster session will give you an opportunity to experience a typical EMBA – Global workshop. In the session, led by Professor Karen Jansen, we will consider five of the most pernicious issues leaders grapple with when trying to implement change, including employee resistance and organisational culture. You will have an opportunity to discuss factors that facilitate and inhibit change in your work units or organisations, and you will be provided with several tips and tools for leading change.
Experience the typical learning dynamics of an EMBA – Global workshop including interactive discussions and group work, and get to meet potential other students on the programme.

Karen Jansen is Professor in Leadership and Change at Henley Business School. She is also the Research Division Lead for Organisational Behaviour, Leadership and Coaching. Karen has more than twenty years’ experience in transformational change, person-environment fit and building energy and momentum. She teaches in Executive, MBA, and MA Leadership programmes and serves on the editorial boards of two top journals in the field: Journal of Management and Academy of Management Review.
Karen’s research broadly focuses on temporal and dynamic aspects of leading change. These include the impact significant events have on long-term performance and adaptability, the process by which leaders can build engagement and momentum during transformational change and how people’s fit with their work environment shifts over time. This research has generated significant theoretical and methodological contributions while providing strong practical tools and insights.
Drawing on her consulting experience at IBM, she has collaborated with military, manufacturing, financial, and professional service organisations to successfully navigate large-scale change, customize strategic vision and change messaging, and design well-timed interventions for various stakeholder groups. She has also developed a ’momentum mapping’ tool to help organisations manage change-related energy during transformational change.