APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2013/2014

ORG 2000 Leadership in Action - Final Bachelor Program in Leadership

Responsible for the course
Birgit H Jevnaker

Department
Department of Innovation and Economic Organisation

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
30

Language of instruction
Norwegian

Introduction
Leadership in Action is a final Bachelor in Leadership programme, a mandatory 30 credits programme leading to the award of the title Bachelor of Management.

The target group of the Bachelor of Management education is primarily adult students who have completed courses/modules at BI Norwegian Business School and/or other colleges of higher education or universities, but without having completed a degree course. This course offers the target groups the opportunity to complete a degree at BI Norwegian Business School.

Learning outcome
The aim of the programme is to provide a final, Bachelor level course based on reflection within the areas of management and organisation.

The programme is both process-based and knowledge-based and adapted to suit the learning situations of adult students and those already in employment. BI’s Leadership in Action therefore offers a combination of:

-collaborative learning and stimulating meetings with participants in employment with experiences from many fields
- a choice of options and tailormaking of some of the course literature, as well as individual learning assignments
- a project paper which will mesh with the interests of the individual and his/her business
- a foundation in an appropriate knowledge framework and personal guidance for further learning
- use of action learning and active reflection in order to stimulate a deeper level of awareness with respect to various aspects of leadership and organisation.

The programme views leadership as an opportunity to release human potential and reflection. The programme is therefore to be an arena for dialogue, reflection, learning and action (cf. the title Leadership in Action or LiA). The experiences, challenges and issues of the participants themselves form the basis of the programme – these will be "confronted" with new forms of leadership, relevant theories and methods with respect to practical new thinking and reflection. By working in project groups and in groups working on other assignments, as well as individually, participants will work on solutions and shed light on relevant problems from their own organisation or other organisations. The learning outcomes depend on active participation and participants taking responsibility for their own learning while interacting with others.

The programme also aims to promote multiple perspectives on leadership. Leadership and organisation are complex subjects and areas of practice in which one can never become a complete expert. There are no easy solutions. The programme will therefore particularly emphasize the following:

- development of integrated learning and stimulating participants’ awareness of competent leadership
- encouraging the development of a constructive and reflective attitude towards concrete, contemporary and future-oriented issues in the fields of leadership, organization, renewal and strategic development;
- development of knowledge, creativity and integrity with respect to leadership in action.

The term integrity is related to what participants already know, in addition to creating suitable opportunities for further learning in an ethical manner. The target group is primarily adults with management experience who wish to develop their leadership skills and qualify themselves for new responsibilities. It also includes employees who have been in an organisation for some time and whose ambition it is to take on the challenge of becoming a leader and/or co-creator.

Through the programme the students are thus to acquire the following knowledge, skills and attitudes:

• Learning goal 1: Show insight and awareness related to competent leadership;
• Learning goal 2: A constructive and thoughtful attitude; an ability to raise questions related to leadership, organization and development;
• Learning goal 3: Be familiar with and develop knowledge, creativity and integrity related to leadership in action;
• Learning goal 4: Contribute to innovation within management and organization;
• Learning goal 5: Show an understanding of one’s own contribution to leadership and that of others.

Module 1: LEADERSHIP IN PERSPECTIVE
Objectives
At the end of the first session, participants are to have acquired an introductory overview and understanding of the challenges and approaches to leadership and organisation in the current organisational climate. Leadership is put into perspective to promote further learning. This includes both perspectives on how to create knowledge and an introduction to the use of the action, reflection and learning methods in the programme.

Main topics
* Introduction and overview of Leadership in Action, final Bachelor Programme in Leadership
* Who are we, where do we come from and where are we going? Presentation of participants and course leaders; current positions and developmental aims
* New perspectives and relevant specialist baggage for a journey into organisations of the future
* How to shape and exploit the programme through creative approaches and project work
* Motivation and good interaction for leadership – subject-based and social events in the programme
* Introduction to ICT (Information and Communication Technology) to be used in the programme
* Utilisation of potential learning resources: more creative ways of working
* Learning about leadership in action: inspiration, subject plans, tools for learning and collaboration
* Integrating perspectives: Learning from living experiences and future prospects: guest speakers with topical challenges

Module 2: STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP AND ORGANISATION
Objectives
At the end of the second session participants are to have gained insight into how strategic knowledge resources may be organised to meet new challenges and trends. Participants should thus be able to draw connections between current positions and future value-adding situations.

Main topics
* Overview and main ideas in strategic leadership
* Strategy as competence in action – renewal or more of the same?
* Various images of strategy – e.g. as mental processes, discovery and creation of meaning
* Strategic intentions, interventions and pitfalls
* Strategy and creativity – visions/leading images, rhetoric and conceptual thinking
*From vision to practice: constructive organisation for strategic renewal
* Integrating perspectives: from strategic analysis to an ability to extend knowledge resources strategically

Module 3: PERSONAL AND COMPETENT LEADERSHIP
Objectives
At the end of the third session participants are to have an understanding of and practice in significant aspects of “good leadership” with respect to both individual and professional leadership. A further objective is to highlight and reflect on potentially negative aspects of leadership and how one can turn situations around, leading to positive achievements (see also Module 4).
In conjunction with this module, or at an agreed time shortly afterwards, participants will give a brief overview of their individually selected literature (approx. 700 pages). The list of relevant, individually selected references (which is in addition to the obligatory programme syllabus below, as well as any previous related courses) is to be shown/submitted to the course instructor. This can be used to highlight issues in participants’ own learning (cf. further work on synopsis and project paper etc).

Main topics
* Overview and main concepts in an individual’s leadership
* Between personal and professional leadership (leading others, leading oneself)
* Different leadership traditions: from specialist experts versus generic leadership traditions to leadership in multicultural, knowledge-intensive and potentially creative environments
* Misdirected or unproductive leadership energy (insight through fiction and participants’ own experiences)
* Constructive leadership skills in theory and in practice (exercises and cases)
* Integrating perspectives: personal leadership in context

Module 4: INTERACTION AND LEADERSHIP IN NETWORKS
Objectives
At the end of the fourth session participants are to have an overview of critical success factors in leadership of knowledge-based organisations. Participants will thus have focused on the need for constructive interplay with other competencies in order to get the best out of fellow workers, clients and collaborators.
A further, concrete objective will be an introduction to creative collaboration in joint problem-solving or brainstorming, using design and creative methods as components of renewal or innovation tasks. (The latter may also take place in other modules, where appropriate).

Main topics
* Overview and main concepts in relation-oreinted and network-oriented leadership
* Why is relation-oriented and network-oriented leadership important now and what does it entail?
* Tracing relation and network-related leadership traditions
* Unproductive energy and processes in leadership within relations/network: examples and exercises
* Constructive relation and network development
* Creative strategic alliances. Case or exercise: interacting on idea development, design and interdisciplinary development teams
* Integrating perspectives: leadership within the individual and the organisation with respect to relations and networks

Module 5: LEADERSHIP IN ACTION
Objectives
At the end of the fifth session participants are to have acquired an overview summarising what is understood by active and reflecting leadership for current and future organisations and how hidden talents and competence may be mobilised to achieve the desired results. An additional objective is to reflect on a) what participants have learned and b) how this may be used constructively in the future.

Main topics
* Overview and main concepts of leadership in action: action, reflection, learning
* Integrating perspectives: from action to interaction – what now?
* Do we need more unconventional strategic leaders – how and why

Exercises: For example with respect to personal objectives
* For inspiration: field trip/visits to new places and impulses from other organisations and fellow students – how to create collaboration and creative environments
* Reflection: What have we learned? What do we need to do additional work on? How to continue?
* Presentations of individual or group plans for implementation and further learning after the course