DRE 6001 Research on Leadership

DRE 6001 Research on Leadership

Course code: 
DRE 6001
Department: 
Leadership and Organizational Behaviour
Credits: 
6
Course coordinator: 
Øyvind Lund Martinsen
Course name in Norwegian: 
Research on Leadership
Product category: 
PhD
Portfolio: 
PhD Leadership and Organisation Courses
Semester: 
2024 Autumn
Active status: 
Active
Level of study: 
PhD
Teaching language: 
English
Course type: 
One semester
Introduction

This course targets research on the characteristics of effective leaders and the conditions for effective leadership. The central premises are that leader effectiveness is dependent on leader characteristics, task characteristics, and contextual influences while the concept leader effectiveness itself is multifaceted. Challenges in this field is that the influence mechanisms themselves have not always been clearly understood and that a large number of theories have been postulated over the years. Other challenges are lack of adequate conceptual foundations and critique of survey based methods. Despite this, leadership research has made progress during the last decades through an emphasis on leader traits, dyadic leadership theory, multi-source measurement, and other measurement developments, among other things related to Natural Language Processing Theory (NLP). Several developments in these areas will be emphasized in this course in addition to a focus on research design issues. Thus, the course aims at giving students an advanced theoretical basis for some of the scientific problems that are at the frontiers of leadership research today.

Learning outcomes - Knowledge
  1. Participants should become acquainted with central perspectives in past and present research on leadership.
  2. Participants should develop knowledge about strategic leadership and upper echelons theory.
  3. Participants should develop knowledge about advances in contemporary theories in the leader trait and leader behavior traditions and in theories on charismatic and transformational leadership.
  4. Participants should develop in depth knowledge about central methods, like 360 degree leader evaluations, semantic analyses (NLP) of leadership constructs, and about strong and weak research designs in leadership research.
  5. Participants should become able to recognize research opportunities in this field, e.g., as regards influence mechanisms and more.
Learning outcomes - Skills

Candidates will learn how to apply theories of leadership in organizational research.

Candidates will learn how to consider relevant research designs in leadership research.

Candidates will learn how to critically evaluate scientific research on leadership according to current theoretical and methodological standards. 

General Competence

Candidates should consider research on leadership as an important source for individual, group, and organizational effectiveness.

Course content
  • Leader traits and leader behaviors
  • Dangerous leadership. Dark side.
  • Transformational and charismatic leadership.
  • Strategic and upper echelons theories
  • Leadership development.
  • Measurement issues.
  • 360 degree leader evaluations
  • Research design issues.
Teaching and learning activities

Lectures

Discussions

Presentations

Cases

Software tools
No specified computer-based tools are required.
Additional information

-

Qualifications

Enrollment in a PhD programme is a general requirement for participation in PhD courses at BI Norwegian Business School.
External candidates are kindly asked to attach confirmation of enrollment in a PhD programme when signing up for a course. Other candidates may be allowed to sit in on courses by approval of the course leader. Sitting in on a course does not permit registration for the course, handing in exams or gaining credits for the course. Course certificates or confirmation letters will not be issued for sitting in on courses.

Required prerequisite knowledge

Basic knowledge in Organizational Behavior.

Assessments
Assessments
Exam category: 
Submission
Form of assessment: 
Submission PDF
Exam/hand-in semester: 
First Semester
Weight: 
100
Grouping: 
Individual
Duration: 
2 Month(s)
Comment: 
Individual Paper/Essay (12 pages) The paper should be original work, and be written specifically for this course.
Exam code: 
DRE60011
Grading scale: 
Pass/fail
Resit: 
Examination when next scheduled course
Type of Assessment: 
Ordinary examination
Total weight: 
100
Student workload
ActivityDurationComment
Group work / Assignments
95 Hour(s)
Specified learning activities (including reading).
Student's own work with learning resources
40 Hour(s)
Autonomous student learning (including the written course paper).
Other in classroom
5 Hour(s)
One class presentation.
Teaching
30 Hour(s)
Sum workload: 
170

A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of at least 160 hours.