Students

BBA 310 – Leadership in Management

2018 – S1 Day

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit Convenor and Lecturer
Dr Edward Wray-Bliss
Contact via Email
Building E4A, Room 651
To be announced in the lecture
Credit points Credit points
3
Prerequisites Prerequisites
(39cp at 100 level or above) including (BBA111 or HRM107)
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description
This unit enables students to examine the highly influential discourse of business and organizational leadership. Understanding the ideas and practices of leadership to be far too significant to be reduced to a set of simplified tools, techniques, or models, this unit draws upon a wide range of academic work across the fields of management, organization and leadership studies to examine the topic. Using this research, leadership is explored from individual, collective, ethical, followership and psychoanalytic perspectives, enabling students to consider the full cultural, organizational and political implications of our ideas and practices of leadership. Additionally, new and emergent perspectives on leadership – its links to identity, to virtuality and the visual, and to religion and spirituality – are considered, providing students with a window into current and cutting edge ideas on the topic.

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:

  • Critically assess the nature and origins of leadership
  • Identify and analyse leadership issues in a management context
  • Demonstrate awareness of the major conceptualisations of leadership
  • Demonstrate awareness of contemporary challenges for and critiques of leadership

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Assessment 1 20% No Week 5
Assessment 2 40% No Week 11
Final Examination 40% No University Examination Period

Assessment 1

Due: Week 5
Weighting: 20%

Essay questions and guidance will be available on ilearn in Week 2. This assessment task requires you to discuss the history and context of leadership in management. 

Submission:

On-line, via turnitin, on the unit ilearn site by 12pm (mid day) on the Friday of Week 5.

Extensions and Penalties:

No extensions will be granted. There will be a deduction of 10% of the total available marks made from the total awarded mark for each 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission is late (for example, 25 hours late in submission – 20% penalty). This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for disruption of studies is made and approved. No submission will be accepted after solutions have been posted.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Critically assess the nature and origins of leadership
  • Demonstrate awareness of contemporary challenges for and critiques of leadership

Assessment 2

Due: Week 11
Weighting: 40%

Essay questions and guidance will be available on ilearn in Week 6. This assessment task requires you to discuss different theoretical approaches to leadership and to critically reflect upon the implications of these for management practice.

Submission:

On-line, via turnitin, on the unit ilearn site by 12pm (mid day) on the Friday of Week 11.

Extensions and Penalties:

No extensions will be granted. There will be a deduction of 10% of the total available marks made from the total awarded mark for each 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission is late (for example, 25 hours late in submission – 20% penalty). This penalty does not apply for cases in which an application for disruption of studies is made and approved. No submission will be accepted after solutions have been posted.


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Identify and analyse leadership issues in a management context
  • Demonstrate awareness of the major conceptualisations of leadership
  • Demonstrate awareness of contemporary challenges for and critiques of leadership

Final Examination

Due: University Examination Period
Weighting: 40%

Examination Conditions:

A two (2) hour final examination under closed book conditions within the University formal examination period


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Identify and analyse leadership issues in a management context
  • Demonstrate awareness of the major conceptualisations of leadership
  • Demonstrate awareness of contemporary challenges for and critiques of leadership

Delivery and Resources

Classes

Number and length of classes: 3 hours face-to-face teaching per week, consisting of 1 x 2 hour lecture and 1 x 1 hour tutorial.

The timetable for classes can be found on the University web site at: http://www.timetables.mq.edu.au/

Reading

To hope to pass this unit, you must do the required weekly reading.  Each of the weekly readings is assessed in the final exam.  To excel in this unit, you will need to read several of the additional readings as well. 

Prizes

A Certificate Prize will be awarded to the highest achieving student/s

Required and Recommended Texts and/or Materials

A collection of 12 classic and contemporary academic articles on different aspects of leadership form the required and examinable reading for this unit.  You will need to read one of these articles each week before your tutorial.  All articles will be uploaded on the unit ilearn site for you to download, read and bring to your tutorial.

In addition to these compulsory readings, several additional academic articles will be uploaded on ilearn for each weekly topic.  You will need to read and use a range of these in your two individual essays for this subject.

Unit Web Page

The web page for this unit can be found at:iLearn http://ilearn.mq.edu.au

Technology

Access to a personal computer is required in order to download resources from ilearn

Unit Schedule

 

Week No

 

Lecture Topic

Tutorial Activities

(All articles and questions on these articles will be on ilearn: articles must be downloaded and read before the tutorial and brought to the tutorial)

1

 

Introduction:

Studying Leadership Critically

 

No tutorials

2

 

Contexts of Leadership 1:

History and Origins

Meindl, J. et al. (1985) 'The Romance of Leadership' Administrative Science Quarterly 30(1): 78-102.

3

 

Contexts of Leadership 2:

Managers and Leadership

Gemmil, G. and Oakley, J. (1992) 'Leadership: An Alienating Social Myth?' Human Relations 45(2): 113-129

4

 

Contexts of Leadership 3:

Gender and Leadership

Jackall, R. (1988). Moral mazes: the world of corporate managers Oxford: Oxford University Press, Chapter 8.

5

 

Theorising Leadership 1:

Individual Approaches

Sinclair, A. (2005) Doing Leadership Differently. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne. (Chapter 3: ‘The Traditional Path: Heroic Masculinity’)

Assignment One Due

6

 

 

Theorising Leadership 2:

Collective Approaches

Ford, J. and Harding, N. (2011) ‘The Impossibility of the ‘true self’ of Authentic Leadership’ Leadership 7(4): 463-479.

 

 7

 

Theorising Leadership 3:

Followership and Psychoanalytic Approaches 

Gordon, R. (2010) ‘Dispersed leadership: Exploring the impact of antecedent forms of power using a communicative framework’ Management Communication Quarterly 24(2): 260-287.

8

 

 

Theorising Leadership 4:

Destructive and Psychopathic Leadership

Gabriel, Y. 1997. ‘Meeting God: when organizational members come face to face with the supreme leader’ Human Relations, 50:4, 315-342.

9

 

Theorising Leadership 5:

Ethical Approaches 

Kets de Vries, M. and Balazs, K. (2011) ‘The Shadow Side of Leadership’ in Bryman, A. et al (Eds.) The Sage Handbook of Leadership, London: Sage, pps. 380 - 392

10

 

Emerging Topics 1:

Visual and Virtual Approaches

Roberts, J. (2001) ‘Corporate governance and the ethics of narcissus’ Business Ethics Quarterly 11(1): 109-127.

11

 

Emerging Topics 2:

Religion, spirituality and leadership

Boje, D. and Rhodes, C. (2005) 'The Virtual Leader Construct: The mass mediatisation and simulation of transformational leadership' Leadership 1(4): 407-428.

Assignment 2 due

12

 

Emerging Topics 3:

Leadership Case Study

Wray-Bliss, E. (2013), ‘Leadership and the Deified/ Demonic: A Cultural Critique of CEO Sanctification’ Business Ethics: A European Review 21(4): 434-449

13

 

Revision / Exam briefing

Revision Quiz

 

 

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

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

If you would like to see all the policies relevant to Learning and Teaching visit Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central).

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/getting-started/student-conduct​

Results

Results shown in iLearn, 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.

Student Support

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

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

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.

Graduate Capabilities

Discipline Specific Knowledge and Skills

Our graduates will take with them the intellectual development, depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content in their chosen fields to make them competent and confident in their subject or profession. They will be able to demonstrate, where relevant, professional technical competence and meet professional standards. They will be able to articulate the structure of knowledge of their discipline, be able to adapt discipline-specific knowledge to novel situations, and be able to contribute from their discipline to inter-disciplinary solutions to problems.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Critically assess the nature and origins of leadership
  • Identify and analyse leadership issues in a management context
  • Demonstrate awareness of the major conceptualisations of leadership
  • Demonstrate awareness of contemporary challenges for and critiques of leadership

Assessment tasks

  • Assessment 1
  • Assessment 2
  • Final Examination

Critical, Analytical and Integrative Thinking

We want our graduates to be capable of reasoning, questioning and analysing, and to integrate and synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments; to be able to critique constraints, assumptions and limitations; to be able to think independently and systemically in relation to scholarly activity, in the workplace, and in the world. We want them to have a level of scientific and information technology literacy.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Critically assess the nature and origins of leadership
  • Identify and analyse leadership issues in a management context
  • Demonstrate awareness of the major conceptualisations of leadership
  • Demonstrate awareness of contemporary challenges for and critiques of leadership

Assessment tasks

  • Assessment 1
  • Assessment 2
  • Final Examination

Engaged and Ethical Local and Global citizens

As local citizens our graduates will be aware of indigenous perspectives and of the nation's historical context. They will be engaged with the challenges of contemporary society and with knowledge and ideas. We want our graduates to have respect for diversity, to be open-minded, sensitive to others and inclusive, and to be open to other cultures and perspectives: they should have a level of cultural literacy. Our graduates should be aware of disadvantage and social justice, and be willing to participate to help create a wiser and better society.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Identify and analyse leadership issues in a management context
  • Demonstrate awareness of contemporary challenges for and critiques of leadership

Assessment task

  • Assessment 2

Socially and Environmentally Active and Responsible

We want our graduates to be aware of and have respect for self and others; to be able to work with others as a leader and a team player; to have a sense of connectedness with others and country; and to have a sense of mutual obligation. Our graduates should be informed and active participants in moving society towards sustainability.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcome

  • Demonstrate awareness of contemporary challenges for and critiques of leadership

Global Contexts and Sustainability

This unit presents students with a critical, questioning approach to leadership.  As part of this approach, we critique the origins of destructive and unethical leadership behaviour and the assumptions and practices which this entails.  Such a critique helps us to understand and avoid harmful and unsustainable leadership or followership practices.

Research and Practice

This unit uses published research and writings from a range of academic sources and perspectives.  Throughout the unit, you will be examining both the theory and practice of leadership, you will develop skills and abilities to read and reflect upon managerial and academic writings on leadership, and you will be encouraged to reflect upon the implications of this material for your own position as both a subject of leadership and a potential future leader.  The unit draws upon articles published in leading leadership and management journals, including Leadership, Human Relations, Administrative Science Quarterly, Leadership Quarterly and Organization Studies.