Leadership in contemporary business (ULMS085)

In the contemporary, intensive and highly volatile and competitive business environment, leadership plays a significant and vital role in the success of an enterprise. Therefore, leadership has received substantial attention from scholars and practitioners and it is increasingly becoming a prominent subject for study. The module intends to enable students with academic understanding of leadership theory and, importantly, to allow for critical engagement with the current debates surrounding its application within the organisational context.

This course will provide students with an opportunity to learn essential core skills and techniques involved in leadership, enabling them to become better and effective leaders in their prospective careers. This course will develop and enhance students’ leadership skills and techniques so they will be able to inspire a team, successfully manage change and conflict, and better serve the needs of a team.

Module leader: Lisa Chamberlain

Lisa is a Graduate Teaching Fellow and PhD candidate at the University of Liverpool. Her research explores quality of working life issues, and her teaching focuses on human resource management and leadership. Lisa is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Aims

• To develop confidence in understanding and communicating complex ideas
• To develop skills in research, collaborative learning and producing and delivering presentations
• To introduce students to the understanding of the concept of contemporary leadership theory from various theoretical and practical approaches and perspectives
• To train students in the core skills and techniques in order to become better and effective leaders
• To highlight the importance of the role of diversity and ethics in leadership.

Content

The following topics will be considered on the module:

• What is leadership?
• Leadership theories
• Different approaches to leadership
• Leadership diversity
• Exploring ethics and toxicity in leadership.

Structure

The module will be delivered over a three-week period in six two hour sessions (four hours per week, total 12 hours contact time). The final block will be an assessment session.

Each session will consist of short lecture-style sessions interspersed with practical activities and group discussions. The lecturer will demonstrate the approaches, skills, and techniques used in leadership and students will have a number of opportunities to put what they are learning into practice with their classmates. Students will be expected to participate fully and actively throughout the sessions.

In addition, it is expected that students will spend 38 study hours outside of the classroom contact hours on activities including assigned reading, optional reading of areas of personal interest, homework tasks, web research and preparation for assessment. The ‘flipped classroom’ approach will be used, requiring students to prepare in advance for the sessions. Students should be aware that in order to fully benefit from the face-to-face classroom sessions, the preparation work assigned should have been done prior to the lecture.

The course will be practical in nature, with the sessions highly focused on giving the students as much practical experience as possible, and encouraging them to put theory into practice throughout.

The indicative schedule is as follows:

Teaching methods

The teaching approach will include the following:

• Taught sessions
• Flipped classroom – preparation work
• Small group working
• Group discussions
• Presentations
• Online learning
• Use of multimedia and interactive materials
• Use of case studies
• Workshops.

Assessment

Assessment will be by written essay/reflection of 1,000-1,200 words (worth 100% of the overall mark).

Standard University policies apply with regard to late submission of assessments.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module, students will be able to:

• Research, find, select, and present relevant facts and information in order to support the argument and findings
• Compare and discuss various scholars’ works and opinions and express their own point of view coherently, logically, and concisely. Thus, students will be able to develop their self-confidence and initiative as well as written communication skills
• Demonstrate a general understanding of various theories and approaches in leadership. They will also be able to present the core skills and techniques of leadership. Students will be able to explain the importance of the role of ethics and diversity in leadership. Students will be able to critically analyse and evaluate the importance of the role of effective leadership to the success of an enterprise.

Skills

Key skills that will be developed:

• Collaboration and teamwork, through group discussions, activities and tasks in class, and collaborative research
• Communication, developed orally in group discussions, activities and tasks in class, and in writing by production of assessed assignment
• Analytical skills, through academic research and writing, which will enable the students to improve and develop their analytical skills including intellectual initiative, critical reflection, the ability to gather, assess, analyse and organise various data, problem solving, and marshal arguments coherently and concisely
• Organisational skills, through academic writing, which will assist the students to improve and develop their organisational skills including self-direction, self-discipline, to work under pressure and to meet deadlines, and management of time and resources.

Books, ebooks and websites

The University Library website provides access to many relevant books and electronic books, as well as academic journals and databases.