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AOS337 Leadership in Knowledge Organizations

Credits (ECTS):10

Course responsible:Sverre Ubisch

Campus / Online:Taught campus Ås

Teaching language:Norsk

Limits of class size:55 participants.

Course frequency:Annually.

Nominal workload:250 hours

Teaching and exam period:This course is run during the autumn parallell.

About this course

The course provides an introduction to leadership in modern knowledge intensive firms. It will give the participants a solid theoretical foundation and will help develop critical and analytical skills. At the same time, a key goal is to improve participants' skills in handling practical challenges and create increased awarereness with regards to the demands of a leadership role and the importance of leadership in general. The main focus is on knowledge and skills that one may start aquiring as a student, but that will require gradual maturation throughout one's career. The course will also be relevant for those who seek a role where they will support leaders (e.g., as consultants or HR practitioners) or contribute to organizational or leadership development. The course will cover leadership at different levels but will focus most strongly on leadership at the departmental level and in teams/projects.

Learning outcome

Knowledge

  • Awareness of the key challenges of leaders at different levels
  • Knowledge of different approaches and perspectives in the leadership literature

Skills

  • Be able to identify criteria for requirements for effective leadership and key contextual constraints
  • Be able to evaluate assumptions related to key concepts/frameworks/theories, as well as identify similarities, differences and linkages across different concepts/frameworks/theories
  • Be able to suggest an approach to resolve key leadership challenges (as one may encounter in practice) using course concepts (e.g., utilizing concepts, frameworks and methods from the academic literature).
  • Be able to present and discuss ideas and concepts verbally to a group in an effective way
  • Be able to describe and critique ideas and concepts related to this topic in writing using effective language

Other learning intentions

  • Increased awareness of the importance of leadership
  • Increased awareness of one's own knowledge and skill level
  • Increased motivation to further develop one's own leadership skills
  • increased interest in the scholarly literature in this area (and the ability to locate relevant sources for studies, methods, and tools)
  • Learning activities

    A combination of methods will be utilized:

    • Case discussion
    • Lectures
    • Group assignments
    • Contributions from external guest lecturers
    • Self-evaluation

    Active participation is necessary.

  • Prerequisites
    Bachelor degree, and AOS130 Introduction to Organisation Theory and AOS230 Organizational Psychology or similar.
  • Recommended prerequisites
    AOS237 Business Strategy or AOS325 Contemporary Organisations or similar. It is an advantage to have work experience or experience from positions in e.g. student associations.
  • Assessment method

    Portfolie Combination: Participation in class. Two group assignments. Written exam during the teaching period.

    A retake exam is not organized in this course. Those who do not pass need to retake the whole course.



    Portfolio

    Grading: Letter grades

  • Examiner scheme
    External examiner review the exam.
  • Teaching hours
    2 hour lectures per week (may be extended to 3 hours). In addition, one has to set aside time for group activities.
  • Reduction of credits
    5 credits overlap with AOS331.
  • Admission requirements
    The course is intended for master's students at NMBU.