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GMBA8003 – Adapt Your Leadership Style

2023 – Coursera term 3, Online-scheduled-weekday

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Frances Chang
frances.chang@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
5
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Admission to GMBA or GradCertGlobalBusPrac
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit looks at how transformational, authentic, and inclusive leadership styles are, in theory and practice, providing an alternative to more autocratic, job-centred, and command and control leadership styles. In exploring this shift, the unit critically examines Henry Mintzberg's observation that much of a leader's time is spent dealing with never-ending and relentlessly occurring complex and ambiguous interruptions of a messy organisational reality and the necessity of having to adopt adaptive and resilient practices to cope. Students will examine how the digital transformation of work has dramatically altered the perception of leadership, with all organisational members being expected to take on some form of self-leadership in the complex team and project work that is increasingly framing the "future of work". This demand is causing tensions between the expectations of traditional leaders and the good and emergent practices and strategies necessary to being agile and nimble in today's ultra-competitive and increasingly disruptive marketplace. Students will be asked to critically examine what adaptive practices of leadership and followership might be employed to minimise these tensions, and the dysfunctionality that accompanies them.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Critically evaluate the similarities and differences between traditional and contemporary theories of leadership and identify the practices of established leadership theories
  • ULO2: Examine how the interruptive complexities and challenges of day-to-day organisational life might require agile shifts between different leadership styles
  • ULO3: Analyse how post-industrial forms of participative and self-organising leadership and followership might enable or disable effective cross-functional performance
  • ULO4: Develop recommendations as to how leadership theories and models might need to evolve to optimise cross-functional performance

General Assessment Information

General Assessment Information

Late submissions of assessments 

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a grade of ‘0’ will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical concern. 

For any late submissions of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, students need to submit an application for Special Consideration.

Special Consideration

To request an extension on the due date/time for a timed or non-timed assessment task, you must submit a Special Consideration application. An application for Special Consideration does not guarantee approval.

The approved extension date for a student becomes the new due date for that student. The late submission penalties above then apply as of the new due date.

Word limits

Anything beyond a stated assessment word limit (other than your reference list) may not be marked. Seek any further clarification from the unit convenor.

 

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Leadership reflection 40% No Week 3
Leadership in action analysis 60% No Week 6

Leadership reflection

Assessment Type 1: Reflective Writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 11 hours
Due: Week 3
Weighting: 40%

 

Length: max 1,000 words (excl. references) for the critical reflection plus discussion posts Format: Discussion forum contributions plus written critical reflection Task: The purpose of this assignment is to stimulate your thinking on different leader behaviour and motivation and to evaluate the appropriateness of the technique to the situation facing the leader. There are two parts to this assignment: You will be asked to post on the Discussion Forums over two weeks and write a critical reflection on your posts and interaction with others.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Critically evaluate the similarities and differences between traditional and contemporary theories of leadership and identify the practices of established leadership theories
  • Examine how the interruptive complexities and challenges of day-to-day organisational life might require agile shifts between different leadership styles

Leadership in action analysis

Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: Week 6
Weighting: 60%

 

Length: 1,800 - 2,000 words (excl. references) Format: Written report Task: The objective of this assignment is for you to analyse current and dynamic leadership issues by critically evaluating how they relate to leadership theory. Please refer to the section Course Resources - Assessment Information in your online unit for detailed information on this assignment as well as the marking criteria. You will be asked to submit your completed task via the Assignment submission link in your online unit.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Analyse how post-industrial forms of participative and self-organising leadership and followership might enable or disable effective cross-functional performance
  • Develop recommendations as to how leadership theories and models might need to evolve to optimise cross-functional performance

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Please refer to the unit content on Coursera.

Unit Schedule

Unit Schedule

Refer to the timetable information on the GMBA website or MQ Timetable Portal for Live Event session timings. Please note the timetable can be subject to change. See your Coursera unit for a detailed Live Event schedule.

Live Events will take place via Zoom each week starting in Week 1 and ending in Week 6. The links to the events will be active from 10 minutes prior to the scheduled time and are available via Live Events in the left-hand navigation menu in your Coursera unit.

You will need to use your Macquarie University student Zoom account to access the Live Events.

Attending the Live Event each week is an opportunity to engage with the unit content, your Unit Convenor, and classmates. Students are strongly advised to attend the Live Events. Recordings will be made available in the unit contents on Coursera shortly after the event.

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Unit information based on version 2023.01R of the Handbook