OAS4300 Leadership Course description

Leadership is a complex issue that has long been a subject of great interest among people. Students in this master's programme will gain experience in leadership roles during their career, or be affected by leadership processes. Leadership is also an academic field, and this course aims at making students acquainted with leadership as an empirical field of research with relevance to practical applications in the workplace. As a student in this course, you will gain an advanced understanding of the empirical research underpinning evidence-based leadership practice. You will also get an overview of how theoretical models of leadership may be substantiated by empirical research and learn how these findings may relate to the practical application of leadership roles and leadership development in organizations.

The course will be taught in English if attended by international students. The course will be taught in Norwegian if attended by only Norwegian speaking students.

None.

After completing the course, the student should have the following overall learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The students will gain advanced understanding of:

• Central theoretical models of leadership and how these theories have evolved throughout history
• Contemporary research based knowledge in leadership
• The relationship between leadership and important outcomes for individuals and organizations, the factors that explain these relationships, and of relevant contingencies

Skills

The student is able to:

• Critically examine and discuss leadership theories; research; and practice
• Read scientific contributions and apply them to issues of practical interest to the general public
• Identify interesting avenues of leadership research and apply appropriate methodology to undertake research on leadership

General competence

The student will be able to:

• Communicate and discuss scientific contributions within leadership research to both scientists and practitioners
• Communicate results from individual projects both in written and orally
• Gather and make use of scientific sources and leadership literature

Various work methods will be used, such as lectures, class discussions and presentations, case analysis and assignments. The students are expected to actively participate during lectures and work on assignments both individually and in groups outside of the joint lectures.

The following coursework requirements must have been approved in order for the student to take the exam:

• Coursework 1: The students are required, in groups of 2-4, to give an oral presentation of a research paper on a specific topic. The time allocated for each paper is about 20 minutes, followed by a class discussion for about 15 minutes. 
• Coursework 2: The students are required to participate in a lecture where they work on their exam paper. The preparation for this lecture is also mandatory, where the students are expected to write a two page draft of the paper, including a research question, a preliminary outline for their paper, as well as a preliminary reading list. 

The purpose of the coursework and required attendance is give the students necessary preparation for the term paper (exam).

All required coursework must be completed and approved by the given deadline in order for the student to take the exam. If one or more coursework requirements have not been approved, the student will be given the opportunity to submit an improved version by the given deadline.

The exam in the course is a course paper. The course paper must have a scope of 10-15 pages. Front page, list of contents, and reference list are not included in the final count of pages. Font and font size: Arial/Calibri 12 points. Line spacing 1.5. The papers can be written individually or in pairs of two. The students will be able to discuss their chosen topic in groups during class with supervision from the lecturer.

The course paper can be written in English or in a Scandinavian language (Norwegian, Danish, Swedish).

Students awarded a fail grade are given one opportunity to submit an improved version of the assignment for assessment.

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with.

Grade scale A - F

The exam papers are assessed by one internal and one external examiner.

At least 25% of the exam papers will be assessed by two examiners. The grades awarded for the papers assessed by two examiners form the basis for determining the level for all the exam papers.