BAD 64158 Fall 2007 Hogue

 

Instructor:                    Mary Hogue, Ph.D.

Office:                         A423

Phone:                         (330) 672-1148

Office Hours:              W 4:00-6:00

                                    You also may stop in my office any time you see my door open,

                                    or I will be happy to schedule a mutually convenient appointment.

E-Mail:                         mhogue@kent.edu

Class meeting:              W 6:15-8:55

Required text:              No text is required for this class.

                                   

Course Objectives: This course offers students the opportunity to better understand the concepts of leadership, to better understand themselves as leaders, and to explore skills that will help them to grow as managers who lead others. Specifically, students will:

w        Explore important theories and concepts of leadership.

w        Obtain a more comprehensive understanding of their personal unique leadership strengths and development opportunities.

w        Create and implement a self-development plan for enhancing their leadership skills in order to become better managers.

 

Course Overview: Course objectives will be met through extensive class discussions of assigned reading material as well as videos and experiential exercises.

 

Grade Determinations: Grades will be earned through:

 

Thought papers. The Vista website contains articles relating to each week’s topic. Each student must read at least 2 articles. Students will complete a thought paper each week corresponding to two different articles from the website. That means that you will turn in 2 thought papers at the beginning of each class. Papers CANNOT be emailed to me unless the student’s absence is properly documented. Thought papers will become the basis for class discussion and will reflect the students’ thoughts on the articles. Each paper should be 1-2 pages typed and formatted similarly to this syllabus (single-spaced within paragraphs and double-spaced between). The student’s name goes in the top left corner. The title of the article is centered just under the student’s name, and below that, the student responds to each of the following questions or statements:

 

            1. What was the author’s purpose in writing the article?

            2.  Briefly summarize the author’s main points or arguments.

            3.  Locate 2 words or concepts with which you either were unfamiliar or had never heard

                 in relation to leadership. Define each word.

            4.  Briefly explain what you learned about leading from this article. (For example, did the

                 article present information of which you previously had been completely unaware: I

                 never heard of LMX theory before but now I know it is this, and this knowledge can

                 help me in this way . . . . Or did the article clarify some aspect of leadership: I always

                 knew that fairness was important, but this article explained how it affects leadership

                 by . . . . Or did the article completely contradict your previous understanding of a

                 concept: Before reading this article, I thought that power meant X, but these authors

say it means Y. I don’t understand how that can be because in my experience . . . . Or maybe the article contradicted a different article from class: The authors of this article say that this concept affects leadership in this way, but the authors of this other article says it has the opposite effect. I find this curious because . . . .)

 

Thought papers will be graded on presentation (following guidelines, clarity, etc.), content (fully responding to all 4 parts) and demonstration of learning (evidence of critical thinking). Each thought paper is worth 7.5 points. With 2 due each day for 12 weeks, that makes a total of 180 points available from thought papers.

 

Personal leadership assessment and development plan. Research suggests that to be an effective leader, one must have self-knowledge. Over the course of the semester, you will write a Self-Assessment/Self-Development Plan. You will explore yourself as a leader by taking several self-assessment tests, through personal reflection, and by soliciting feedback from your social/professional network and your fellow students.

 

The information you gather will be synthesized and used to generate a self-development plan addressing ways that you intend to capitalize on your strengths and improve those areas that have the opportunity to be improved.

 

Your paper will begin with a brief introduction stating your personal and career goals. This will be followed by Part 1, your Self-Assessment. In this part, you will summarize your strengths and opportunities for growth. Be sure to include careful descriptions of the concepts you discuss. It is not sufficient to tell me that you had a score of X on personality test A. You must tell me what that means with respect to you as a leader and how you know what it means. For example, do not simply state, “I took an IQ test online. My score was 120. That will help me to be a better leader, so it is a strength.” Instead, tell me, “At www.psychtests.com, I took an online IQ test. My score was 120. That means that I have above average intelligence. The Kirkpatrick and Locke (1984) paper quotes Lord et al. who argue that “intelligence is a key characteristic in leadership perception.” This suggests that others will be able to identify me as a leader more easily me and be willing to follow me.”

 

Your self-assessment should be thorough, so you must gather and discuss information from a number of different concepts as well as different perspectives. The more you are able to synthesize information rather than discussing concepts in a serial fashion, the better your grade will be. A statement such as, “The feedback from my subordinates confirms what Lord et al. said. When I asked my subordinates to pinpoint what they believed my best attribute as their leader was, 3 out of 4 of them said it was my intelligence” included after the above quote about your intelligence score shows a synthesis of information. Likewise, “Although the ability to process information quickly is necessary to be effective as a leader, social intelligence is key as well. Zacarro (2007) argues that no attribute alone can predict leader emergence or leader effectiveness. He argues that leader traits are integrations of characteristics and that different traits are constrained or called out depending on the situation. So, it is possible that when my subordinates suggest that I am intelligent, they may not mean only that they believe I can process information quickly. Because we work in a customer service department, they may mean that I am people-smart because I am able to determine what is the best approach to use with each unhappy customer.”

 

Part two of your paper is your Self-Development plan. Select two opportunities for improvement and specify (a) what the areas are that you would like to improve, (b) why you selected those areas/ what are the implications for your career or life goals if you make improvements in the chosen areas, (c) the precise steps you intend to take to make your improvements, and (d) how you will monitor your improvement as you progress.

 

You must email your paper to me as a Word document attachment before the beginning of our scheduled class Wed. Nov. 21. It will be docked 5 pts. for each hour or part thereof that the paper is late, and late means that I have not received the paper – not that you have not sent it. So, please turn your paper in with plenty of time for me to send you a confirmation that I received it so that if you have not received confirmation from me, you can resend the paper without it being late.

 

I will grade the paper making comments throughout and email it back to you. It is worth a total of 145 points – 15 for the Intro, 100 for Part 1, and 30 for Part 2. Grades will reflect both breadth (how many different perspectives and concepts did you include) and depth (how much understanding did you show of individual concepts and of the relationships between and among the concepts), and although this is not a writing class, too many grammar or spelling errors will lower your grade.

 

Points available:                       Thought Papers                                                    180

Total                                                                      325

 

 

 

Class Attendance: Attendance is essential because students who skip class not only miss learning experiences, they also prevent other students from learning from them.  Therefore, you should try to be present and on time for the full session every scheduled day Any excused absence must be accompanied by the appropriate documentation stating that it was not possible for the student to attend class either because the student was gravely ill, was in a serious traffic accident on the way to class, or was required to attend a work-related or university-related function. If an absence is accompanied by appropriate documentation, then thought papers can be emailed to me at the student’s earliest convenience. Otherwise, thought papers CANNOT be emailed.

 

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 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.

For Fall 2007, the course withdrawal deadline is Sunday, November 4, 2007.

Students with disabilities: University policy 3342-3-18 requires that students with disabilities be provided reasonable accommodations to ensure their equal access 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 the Student Accessibility Services (contact 330-672-3391 or visit www.kent.edu/sas for more information on registration procedures).

Students have responsibility to ensure 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 9, 2007 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.

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.