MLED5000 Ethical Leadership Course description

To start developing an authentic, sustainable organization, one must begin with ethical leadership. A leader is an important role model for the employees and sets the standard for responsible behavior in daily life. Furthermore, the manager is the person who represents the organization’s values and communicates these to the employees. He/she is responsible for developing a safe climate to avoid ethical challenges and to create safe notification routines.

This course provides insight into the underlying principles of ethical leadership and ethical dilemmas in modern organisations. This course provides students with an overview of relevant, contemporary theories and research findings. The theories are related to both ethical principles and management theory. Students should be able to analyze, discuss and reflect on complex issues related to ethical leadership.

No required preliminary courses.

After completing the course, the student must have the following total learning outcomes defined in knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge 

The student has:

• extensive knowledge of ethical theories/principles

• in-depth insight into crucial concepts related to ethical leadership, such as transformational leadership, authentic leadership and «aspirational leadership. »

• insight into how the relationship between the leader's behavior, the organization’s climate and the employees' behavior creates destructive leadership and climate

• knowledge of circumstances that prevent or encourage notification and «employee voice »

• knowledge of the challenges associated with notification and notification routines

• insight into ethical challenges related to digitalization and social media

• knowledge of CSR

Skills 

The student should be able to:

• criticize and analyze theories of ethical leadership

• discuss / discuss how and why ethical dilemmas arise in organisations

• apply theories and research findings in own management practice

• reflect on own behaviour related to ethical leadership

General competence 

The student can:

• read, understand and be familiar with original literature related to ethical leadership

• communicate advanced professional knowledge to specialists (other professionals) and the general public

• identify potential dilemmas in your organization

• create a safe climate to avoid ethical challenges

• master the subject area's forms of expression

The course uses lectures, cases, discussions and practical assignments. It is expected that the students contribute to the teaching and work independently with the course material outside the lectures.

To be able to sit for the exam, the student must have the following approved work requirements:

Assignment 1: Group assignment with a scope of 1500 words. Each group will be assigned a different topic. Groups must present the results in class, moreover, each group will be assigned an opponent group. Opponent groups must prepare discussion and led the in-class discussion.

Assignment must be completed and approved by the set deadline for the student to be able to apply for the exam. If one or more work requirements are not approved, it is possible to submit an improved version within the specified deadline.

Individual project assignment to be submitted at the end of the course.

The answer must have a scope of 23 000 characters including space, (+/- 10%). Font and font size Arial/Calibri 12, line spacing 1,5. The assignment can be written in Norwegian as well as English. In the event of a failed exam, the student is given the opportunity to submit a revised version of the project assignment for examination once.

All aids are allowed as long as the rules on source reference are followed.

Graded scale from A-F.

An internal and external examiner is used to grading all assignments.