SYLLABUS

 

M&IS 34165, SECTION 002, CALL # 14171

 

This is an upper-level course designed to give the student practical experience in Leadership Principles. The prerequisite for this course is Principles of Management course, M&IS 21463.  You must have taken that class prior to being registered in this Dynamics of Leadership course.

 

The principal method of instruction is casework along with lecture and examination.  You will                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     form a team during one of our first class sessions. This team will be yours for the remainder of the semester. You need to be an active member of the team during group projects and casework. The team has the prerogative of dismissing you from their group if you do not support it by active attendance, work, and participation. At the end of the semester, there will be a peer review by your teammates, which may seriously affect your grade.

 

At this level of your college career, there should be no prodding by professors to get you to do the work on a daily basis.  This class will be run much like a graduate class. However, if the professor sees people not prepared, reading the cases for the first time in class, and holding up their teams, it is possible that your professor may revert to more classical teaching methods, as distasteful as they may be, to make sure that all students are fully prepared.

 

There are two texts required:

 

1.     Baker, David Lee, ed., Leadership, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin (Primis), Inc., 1^st edition, 2006, paperback, 504 pages, ISBN 0390735884, note that this is a brand new text and is only available through two of our local bookstores, University and Dubois; unavailable online or through the publisher directly.  Please note that the page numbers we will refer to are those within the black circle at the top (left or right) of each page.

(Hereinafter referred to as “T”, for Textbook).

2.     Clawson, James G., Practical Problems in Organizations: Cases in Leadership, Organizational Behavior, and Human Resources, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc., 2^nd edition, 2003, paperback, 468 pages, ISBN 0130083895, currently this text is out of print so the bookstores may have only a limited quantity; you may wish to check online as well. (Hereinafter referred to as “C”, for Casebook).

 

 

1.     Introduce you to various leadership models and help you develop your own definition of what it means to be a leader.

2.     Introduce you to the related elements of any leadership situation: personal characteristics, strategic thinking, influencing others, designing effective organizations, and managing change.

3.     Enable you to clarify your semiconscious values, assumptions, beliefs, and expectations about what it means to be an effective leader and to explore the functionality of those beliefs.

4.     Expose you to many excellent authors, both current and historical, who have made significant contributions to the subject of leadership.

5.     Assist you to develop skills in influencing others, whether or not you have positional authority.

6.     Cause you to reflect on and anticipate places in which (and methods in which) you will develop and extend your leadership during your career and lifetime.

7.     Help you to learn practical skills about leadership through experiential exercises.

8.     Make it possible for you to anticipate and plan your leadership role within the business world.

9.     Prepare you to be a leader in society.

 

Your professor has given you, on the following spreadsheet, a complete listing of the topics and chapters to be covered in each session.  This is a breakdown of how these will work:

 

1.     Participation/Attendance (Both Team and Individual): There are two components to this grade. The first, worth 100 points, is an individual award, determined by your unique participation in all class activities.  The second part is a team self-evaluation of each member in the team and his or her contributions to the team effort. This is valued at 50 points.

 

2.     Journal Keeping (Individual): You will be asked to keep a journal to record your results and observations of the experiential exercises assigned for many classes. The journals will be collected twice during the semester and reviewed. This counts 50 points total towards your overall grade.

 

3.     Written Case Analyses (Team): For team projects on Case Analyses: You are to prepare each case individually and be prepared to discuss with your team and in larger class session. Participation will be graded by both your teammates and by your professor.

Collectively, your team must hand in three separate cases, completely analyzed and typed according to the guidelines set forth in the class. All case questions must be answered as well. Note, this is not in outline format, but descriptive paragraphs using the outline ideas presented in class. You must use the long cycle method on this part. This counts 300 points total, at 100 points each, towards your final grade. 

 

4.     Book/Chapter Reviews (Team): This is a very important part of the class. There are so many good books on the market in leadership that it would be impossible to read them all. Thus we will help each other by preparing report(s) on assigned book(s) (or chapters of books) and distributing copies to your classmates. You will do this as a team and make a team presentation on one or two books during the semester. Your classmates will grade you on this one. This is worth 100 points towards your grade and in the team projects you will receive whatever the team gets.  There may be individual book/chapter review assignments as well.

 

5.     Movie Reviews (Team): This is a very interesting assignment for each team to review at least one (1) film on various leadership topics. You will prepare a report and select various clips or segments to show the class, which demonstrates the leadership principles, or lack thereof, to the class. The class will also grade the team on this and additionally it is worth 100 points to the team.

 

6.     Midterm Exam (Individual): This will be predominantly an essay test on terms, definitions, and understanding of the subject matter that will be held on the examination date. It will be a blue book type exam, and all work will be done in the classroom, closed book, individually. This will count 100 points towards your final grade.  You will have one hour and fifteen minutes for this exam.  There will be lecture and possibly some review preceding the exam.

 

7.     Project (Individual): You will do a project that will be due by Wednesday, December 5th, based on the criteria listed below. This should be not less than five (5) and not more than ten (10) typewritten pages, double spaced, with appropriate footnotes and references, according to proper style.  This is worth 100 points towards your grade.

 

8.     Final Exam (Individual): This is a case analysis (one, two, or three cases; no choice) that will be held on the examination date. It will be a blue book type exam, and all work will be done in the classroom, closed book, individually. This will count 100 points towards your final grade.  It will be comprehensive in nature as it may well include anything covered during this course.  You will have two hours and fifteen minutes for this exam.

 

There will be two exams; a mid-term and a final.

 

Office hours for the semester will be held (tentatively) according to the schedule on page one of this syllabus.  Should those dates/times not work for your own calendar please call me to suggest alternative times.  It is best to call first for an appointment before just stopping by as I may be with other students or faculty and there could be a bit of a wait.  I prefer calls.  Leave a message if you must.  I check voice mail several times throughout the day but e-mail much less often.  If you are having problems in the course, please see me immediately; don’t wait until semester end.

 

There will be a total of 1,000 points available to determine your grade. The criteria for grading is divided as follows

 

1.     Participation/Attendance: 150 points       See Syllabus Calendar

2.     Journal Keeping:                 50 points       See Syllabus Calendar

3.     Written Case Analyses:     300 points       See Syllabus Calendar

4.     Book/Chapter Review(s): 100 points       See Syllabus Calendar

5.     Movie Review(s):              100 points       See Syllabus Calendar

6.     Midterm Exam:                 100 points       October 18, In class

7.     Project:                              100 points       Dec. 6, Due No Later Than 6:15 p.m., In class

8.     Final Exam:                       100 points       Dec. 13, 5:45 – 8:00 p.m.; Note the Time Change

Total:                                       1,000 points

 

To determine your percentage grade, divide by ten (10), and then use the following to ascertain your corresponding letter grade:

 

A         100 – 90 points

B         89 – 80

C         79 – 70

D         69 – 60

F          Below 60

 

Your professor wishes there to be no reading, talking during lectures, eating or chewing gum in class.  So as not to disturb others, cell phones must be turned off upon entering the classroom.  If a student’s cell phone rings during class or an exam the professor reserves the right to ask that student to leave the room for the remainder of that class period.  Please don’t let it happen a second time as other actions may be necessary.  This is in accordance with the University policy on disruptions in the classroom.

 

 

While this is intended to be a strict overview of this course it is not a contract.  Things happen; accidents, emergencies, weather conditions, catastrophes, and the like, and this syllabus is therefore tentative.  As leaders you need to be flexible to change and understanding of that dynamic.  Your professor will give as much lead time as possible on all changes, so that you have ample time to prepare.

 

Along the same line as things that can happen above, your professor realizes that circumstances may occur in your schedule as well that could preclude your attendance for class activities, such as work commitments and travel out of town, family emergencies/events, accidents, etc.  Accommodation will be offered whenever possible and practicable, however, advance notice to me will generally be required.  Makeups will be available for the two exams only.  It is not realistic to come to me after the exam and explain a situation, other than a dire emergency, and expect to have a makeup exam.  Other arrangements need to be provided for all other activities.

 

 

The following topics are allowed for your term project: please pick one from these.  If you wish to offer alternative leadership topics, I will be happy to hear, discuss, and consider them:

 

1.     Compare and contrast leadership styles from the 18^th, 19^th, and 20^th centuries. Give solid examples of each era and the implications for leaders in the 21^st century.  How do you account for these changes, and why?

2.     Shadow and interview a major leader in a non-profit or charitable/volunteer organization. What makes this person influence people so well? What implications are there for leaders both in this organization and in others?

3.     Compare and contrast leadership styles in the military over the past one hundred and fifty (150) years. Where do you see that this is heading and what are the implications for future military leaders?

4.     Develop your own personal Leadership Model as outlined in several experiental exercises and handouts.  See me for further details.  What are your own goals, direction, and timetable for achieving these activities?  Include your own personal mission and vision statements.

 

The ability to properly present topics of importance to your classmates, colleagues, clients, stakeholders, and supervisors is essential in both life and the business world.  It is possible that, shall time permit, we will do some exercises in this vital area.  You will each be expected to present to the class, both individually and within teams, sometime during this semester.  Please contact me early on in this course should you have any questions or concerns about presenting.

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

 

B.     Students have responsibility to ensure that they are properly enrolled in classes.  You are advised to review your official class schedule (using Web for Students) 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 10, 2006 to correct the error with your advising office.  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.   In addition, it is considered to be cheating when one cooperates with someone else in any such misrepresentation.  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 2006, the course withdrawal deadline is Sunday, November 5, 2006. Withdrawal before the deadline results in a "W" on the official transcript; after the deadline a grade must be calculated and reported.

 

E.     Students with disabilities: In accordance with University policy (3321-3-18), if you have a documented disability and require accommodations to obtain equal access in this course, please contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester or when given an assignment for which an accommodation is required.  Students with disabilities must verify their eligibility through the Office of Student Disability Services (SDS) in the Michael Schwartz Service Center (contact 330-672-3391, or visit www.kent.edu/sds for more information on registration procedures).