Overview
This course deals with the concept of leadership in organizations. It is, in some respects, a specialized course suited for students who have completed ORGB 364 or a similar introductory organizational behaviour course.
ORGB 327 is organized into 10 lessons, each of which coincides with one chapter in the textbook. The lessons are structured to present the concept of leadership at three levels: individual, team, and organization. The course balances discussion of various theories with their application in real world situations and introduces the lexicon of leadership studies and current theories. Throughout the course, the concept of leadership is discussed in the context of organizations where leadership is required to resolve conflict, manage change, and influence organizational culture.
Your knowledge will be tested through a series of thought-provoking assignments and a final examination. The broad goal of this course is to help you develop a deeper understanding of the concept of leadership in organizations. Such understanding is expected to serve you in a practical way in your career.
Learning outcomes
After you have completed this course, you should be able to
- define the concepts of leadership and ethical behaviour in leadership.
- describe leadership theories, styles, paradigms, models, and traits.
- identify the managerial roles of leaders.
- discuss the importance and influence of organizational culture, including concepts of power, networking, negotiation, politics, and effective meeting protocols.
- describe and explain conflict management styles and models of conflict resolution.
- describe and explain the feedback model and discuss how to encourage feedback from others.
- explain the concept of followership, discuss followership styles, and describe follower-influencing characteristics.
- identify and explain the characteristics of effective teams, including self-managed teams.
- discuss effective team-based work and team decision-making and outline different types of teams.
- explain and discuss the concepts of charisma, transformational leadership, and transactional leadership.
Evaluation
To receive credit for ORGB 327, you must achieve a course composite grade of at least a D (50 percent), and a mark of at least D (50 percent) on the final examination. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:
| Activity | Weight |
| Assignment 1 | 25% |
| Assignment 2 | 25% |
| Assignment 3 | 25% |
| Final Exam | 25% |
| Total | 100% |
The final examination for this course must be requested in advance and written under the supervision of an AU-approved exam invigilator. Invigilators include either ProctorU or an approved in-person invigilation centre that can accommodate online exams. Students are responsible for payment of any invigilation fees. Information on exam request deadlines, invigilators, and other exam-related questions, can be found at the Exams and grades section of the Calendar.
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Digital course materials
Links to the following course materials will be made available in the course:
Lussier, R. N., & Achua, C. F. (2023). Leadership: Theory, application, & skill development (7th ed.). Sage Publications. ISBN 9781071856840; 1071856847
Other Resources
All other learning resources will be available online.
Challenge for credit
Overview
The challenge for credit process allows you to demonstrate that you have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university-level course.
Full information about challenge for credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Evaluation
To receive credit for the ORGB 327 challenge registration, you must achieve a grade of at least D (50 percent) on the examination.
Online Exam
Challenge for credit course registration form