MIS 64158 Fall 2011 Hogue

If you learn only methods, you'll be tied to your methods, but if you learn principles you can devise your own methods.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Leadership and Managerial Assessment

64158

Fall, 2011

Instructor:                   Mary Hogue, Ph.D.

Office:                         A423

Phone:                         (330) 672-1148

Office Hours:              W 11:00-12:30, MW and by appointment

E-Mail:                        mhogue@kent.edu

Class meeting:             MW 12:30-1:45

Required text:                         No text is required for this class. Assigned articles are listed at

the end of the syllabus and can be found at the university library website.

Course Objectives: This course offers students the opportunity to develop a better understanding of the concept of leadership and of themselves as leaders who manage others. Specific objectives are for students to:

• develop a thorough understanding of leadership as a process in which the leader, the follower, and the situation are equally important.
• practice the skills that will help them to lead others more effectively.

Course Overview: Course objectives will be met through extensive discussion of assigned reading material, in-class exercises, and application of the material to your own lives. The reading material and exercises offer examples of how certain concepts impact leadership. Through discussions led by me, you will gain a better understanding of why the concepts impact leadership.

In-class exercises will be drawn from real-life examples found in the popular media. You will work in groups to analyze the leadership challenges faced by others in their real lives to help you understand the complexities of the leadership process.

Course Structure: Long-lasting learning is an iterative process. You must go over the material many times and in many different ways in order to create a memory that can be called on in the future – called on to successfully respond to test questions, but more importantly, called on to help you as you lead others.

With that in mind, this class is structured to provide many ways for you to go through the material. Your first opportunity is reading. Each class, we will cover a new dimension of the leadership process, and you will become familiar with the dimension by reading the assigned material before coming to class. Your next opportunity will occur as we discuss the material in class. To learn how to be a better leader, it is not sufficient to read material and memorize concepts. You must learn to integrate the new material with information you already have, and as the semester goes on, with course material you have just learned. Discussions are designed to help you develop a deeper level of understanding than you will have gained when you initially read the material.

Finally, you will work in small groups to analyze the influence skills of a business leader. This application creates the opportunity for you to think critically about how and why a successful leader influences others.

Grade Determinations: Grades will be earned through:

Tests. There will be three tests. Each will consist of multiple choice, short answer, and short essay questions. Although the tests are not designed to be cumulative, when responding to the short essay questions, you may feel free to pull concepts from previous material to create a more complete response.

Tests will begin at 12:30 No one may begin a test after the first person has finished and left the room. No one may leave the room during testing time unless finished or given permission. Nothing can be on desks during tests. No electronic communication devices (telephone, laptop, etc.) can be turned on and within view during the test.

Tests will be hand-written. It is your responsibility to ensure that I am able to read your responses. Each test is worth 25 points.

If you are not able to be in class for any reason on a test day, you will have the opportunity to make up the points for that test on the final day of the regular semester. Points can only be made up for one test in this way. If you must miss a second test date, then you must have a documented excuse (from your doctor, your place of employment, or the university) to make up points for the second missed test.

Group presentation. In pairs (groups of only 2 people), you will analyze the influence of one successful business leader, applying material from class to explain the individual’s success. Presentations will occur during both our final day of the regular semester and our final exam period. Twenty-five points are available from group presentations. Twenty are assigned by me to the pair (i.e., each student in the pair receives the same grade – unless I have reason to believe that the entire project was completed by only one person). The remaining five points are assigned to you individually by your partner.

Total points available:             Tests (25 X 3)             75

                                                Presentation                25

                                                Total                            100

The Following Policies Apply to All Students in this Course

A.      Students attending the course who do not have the proper prerequisite risk being deregistered from the class.

B.       Students have responsibility to ensure they are properly enrolled in classes.  You are advised to review your official class schedule (using Student Tools on FlashLine) during the first two weeks of the semester to ensure you are properly enrolled in this class and section.  Should you find an error in your class schedule, you have until Sunday, September 5, 2010 to correct the error.  If registration errors are not corrected by this date and you continue to attend and participate in classes for which you are not officially enrolled, you are advised now that you will not receive a grade at the conclusion of the semester for any class in which you are not properly registered.

C.      Academic Honesty:  Cheating means to misrepresent the source, nature, or other conditions of your academic work (e.g., tests, papers, projects, assignments) so as to get undeserved credit.  The use of the intellectual property of others without giving them appropriate credit is a serious academic offense.  It is the University's policy that cheating or plagiarism result in receiving a failing grade for the work or course.  Repeat offenses result in dismissal from the University.

D.      For Fall 2011, the course withdrawal deadline is Sunday, November 6, 2011. Withdrawal before the deadline results in a "W" on the official transcript; after the deadline a grade must be calculated and reported.

E.       Students needing accessability: University policy 3342-3-01.3 requires that students with disabilities be provided reasonable accommodations to ensure their equal access to course content. If you have a documented disability and require accommodations, please contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester to make arrangements for necessary classroom adjustments. Please note, you must first verify your eligibility for these through Student Accessibility Services (contact 330-672-3391 or visit http://www.registrars.kent.edu/disability/  for more information on registration procedures).

Locating Assigned Reading Material

To locate assigned articles:

*First you must ensure that you have access to the library’s materials. You will have access if you use a university computer. If you are accessing material from your home computer, you will need to download the Kent VPN, which can be found on the Library’s home page.

1) On the KSU Library homepage, in the box labeled “Research,” click the link that says “Research Databases.”

2) An alphabetical list of all databases will come up. Most articles can be found using Business Source Complete. If you are not able to locate the article with this database, you may need to go to PsychInfo.

3) Make sure that you have the “Advanced Search” open. It has 3 search boxes available instead of just 1.

4) Put the 3 pieces of information on the syllabus schedule into the search boxes (article title, author, journal title), and it should take you right to the article. 

**If you are unable to locate an article, let me know, and I can send my copy to you. Please make every effort to locate articles on your own, contacting me only when you’ve exhausted all other avenues.

Schedule

Following is a tentative class schedule. Changes to this syllabus will be made either in class or through Flashline email. You are responsible for any changes made.

Understanding Primary Parts of the Leadership Process

The Leadership Process at Work

Becoming a better leader