Developing organisation skills, critical analysis and reflective skills and other employability skills are central to the assessment strategy of this Module.
In detail, students will continue to ‘learn how to learn’ through direction to other sources of information – they will learn how to seek out information, evaluate the validity, currency, quality and relevance of the information that they source from the Internet. Specialist guest lecturers will be invited to deliver ‘real world’ examples and – through these sessions – students will examine and debate current practice in leadership.
Students are required to write two 2,000 word academic essays, each carrying 45% of the total module mark:
Component 1: Case Study
You are required to complete a 2,000 word essay (+/- 10%) that addresses the following question:
In his book Leadership in Organizations, Yukl (2013) conceptualises leadership by organisational level. These levels can be viewed as a hierarchy as depicted below:
| General Managerial Work Functions | Level (Yukl, 2013) |
| Chair, Board Director, Chief Executive Officer | Organization |
| Senior Manager | Group |
| Supervisor/Team Leader/Line Manager | Dyadic |
With reference to each of these leadership levels, consider an organisation you have knowledge of and analyse how the leadership has responded to today’s turbulent environments.
In your answers, please provide a brief overview of the organisation you have chosen to provide context.
Further guidance on writing this Essay will be offered in the live academic teaching sessions.
Suggested Structure for component 1: A model answer might look like this:
Introduction (10% – 200 words). This is what I am going to tell you…
e.g. In this essay, I was asked to consider an organisation and analyse how leadership at different levels has responded to today’s turbulent environments. The essay will be divided into the following sections:
- An explanation of Yukl’s (2013) leadership matrix
- An explanation of what is understood by environmental turbulence
- A brief overview of the organisation selected for analysis & some context highlighting the turbulence the company experienced.
- The impact on the organisation
- An analysis of the response
Body of Work (80% – 1600 words). This is what I am telling you…
- Explain / define the leadership matrix & what is understood by turbulence (400 words)
- Describe the organisation (sector, overview etc), the turbulence experienced and the impact it had (400 words).
- An analysis of the response (800 words)
Conclusion (10% – 200 words). This is what I have told you….
- In summary… (nothing new).
- Acid test: Should be able to understand fully from Introduction and Conclusion.
Component 2: Reflective Essay
What is leadership? In this 2000-word essay, and considering the Module, students will be asked to explore such areas as: what does it mean to you; it is important; why and for what reason; and what is its purpose?
To answer the second component well, students are required to choose two leadership concepts
(i.e. theories) [for example: leadership traits; distributed leadership], and then drawing on work experience to date, provide examples of how these two concepts relate to the world of practice/work. For students with limited or no work experience, then they may draw examples from the four guest lectures to explain the relationship of theory to practice.
Note: In your answer, it is essential that you draw on the relevant literature – both academic and practitioner – to support your work.
An excellent submission will show how the ‘theory explains practice’ and/or how ‘the practice of leadership compliments or supports the stated theory’.
Early feedback to the students will be provided after the Case Study that will prepare them for the Reflective Essay component. Throughout, students will be encouraged to be innovative and to engage in deep learning around the module topic (s).
Suggested Structure for component 2: A model answer might look like this:
Introduction (10% – 200 words). This is what I am going to tell you… (Written in the 1st or 3rd person)
In this essay, I was asked to… (repeat the question)
The purpose is to …
The essay is divided up into the following sections (i.e. scope):
- Concept One
- Concept Two
- Conclusions
Body of Work (80% – 1600 words). This is what I am telling you… Written in the 3rd person
Concept One. (800 words)
- Explain, define and demonstrate knowledge & understanding of concept 1 supported by the relevant literature.
- Provide a brief overview of your work experience (or use a guest lecturer) and analyse how that concept works in practice. E.g. comment on strengths and weaknesses.
Concept Two. (800 words)
- Explain, define and demonstrate understanding of concept 2 supported by the relevant literature.
- Provide a brief overview of your work experience (or use a guest lecturer) and analyse how that concept works in practice. E.g. comment on strengths and weaknesses.
Conclusion (10% – 200 words). This is what I have told you….
In summary this is what I have told you and this is what leadership means to me/what its purpose is/why it’s important etc … (nothing new). Written in 1st or 3rd person (Acid test: Should be able to understand submission fully from Introduction and Conclusion).
