MGMT902 Assignment 3: Implementing Agentic AI-Enabled Organisational Change

The third MGMT902 report moves from cyber security to agentic AI. Students select one NZX Main Board company and critically analyse how it could introduce AI agents that plan, decide and act across enterprise systems, with a strong focus on structured change management, human oversight, accountability and workforce redesign.

Assessment Overview

Critically analyse how a New Zealand listed organisation (an entity on the NZX Main Board) can implement digital transformation through the adoption of agentic artificial intelligence, where AI agents pursue defined goals by planning, deciding and acting across enterprise systems with limited step-by-step human direction. Explore how the organisation manages the people side of this change, aligning agentic AI initiatives with the business strategy examined in Assignment 1, using a recognised strategic framework and a structured change management methodology. Assess the engagement of the board, executive, frontline and professional staff, customers and regulators, and the effectiveness of communication, training, trust-building and support. Treat workforce redesign, role change and risk management as core elements of the change, and provide practical recommendations supported by annual reports, investor presentations, NZX announcements and credible industry research.

Learning Outcomes Assessed

• LO1 – Interpret how Information Systems, within the context of ICT, impact the external environment, industries and companies.
• LO2 – Evaluate and plan for major improvements in process performance within an ICT environment.
• LO4 – Assess innovation opportunities and manage innovation through commercial success by aligning information systems plans with business plans.

Key Areas to Address

• The organisation’s strategic rationale for adopting agentic AI and the supporting business case.
• The redistribution of decision rights between employees and AI agents, and the human oversight model that governs it.
• Stakeholder engagement and influence, including board, executive, workforce and customer perspectives.
• The effectiveness of communication, training and support in building trust and capability.
• Alignment of agentic AI initiatives with organisational objectives, including how benefits and risks will be measured.

Use change and strategy frameworks such as Prosci’s ADKAR model or Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model; for governance, trust and assurance you may draw on the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, ISO/IEC 42001 or New Zealand public sector AI guidance.

1. Implementing Agentic AI-Enabled Organisational Change (30 Marks)

• Critically evaluate how agentic AI initiatives would be introduced as part of wider organisational change, distinguishing agentic systems from conventional automation and from generative AI used on request.
• Apply a change management framework such as ADKAR to awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement for a workforce moving from performing tasks to directing and supervising agents.
• Examine agentic AI’s role in innovation, agility and long-term sustainability, and show its contribution to competitive advantage and measurable operational improvement.

2. Overcoming Barriers to Agentic Adoption in Established Organisations (30 Marks)

• Analyse the challenges New Zealand organisations face: trust and explainability, fragmented or poor-quality data, legacy systems, unclear accountability for autonomous decisions, regulatory and privacy obligations, and cultural or structural inertia.
• Assess how structured change management, supported by governance and assurance, can reshape culture, redesign workflows around human-agent collaboration and establish clear control and escalation points.
• Provide evidence-based recommendations to enhance change readiness, mitigate risk and support safe adoption.

3. Designing a Strategic Change Management Plan for Agentic Transformation (40 Marks)

• Develop a change management strategy scoped around one or more clearly defined agentic use cases.
• Identify key stakeholders, their roles and influence, and strategies to secure engagement, build trust and foster commitment.
• Propose targeted communication, tailored training, a defined human oversight and accountability model, and reinforcement mechanisms to address resistance.
• Show alignment with business goals and specify how benefits, risks and adoption will be measured over time.

Submission Notes

• Arial 11 or Times New Roman 12, 1.5-line spacing, standard title page template and a reference list.
• Work is checked for copied material and AI use; one draft submission to Moodle/Turnitin is allowed before the final submission.
• Late submissions lose 5% (1.5 marks) per 24 hours for up to 96 hours.