Leadership and Organizational Communication / Leadership and Organizational Communication

The Academic Board of Business Administration, Odense
Teaching activity id: 9851001.
Teaching language: English.ECTS / weighting: 10 ECTS / 0.167 full-time equivalent.
Examination language: English.
Exam activity id: 9851002.Approved: 03-11-17.
Period: Spring 2018.
Grading: Internal grading.
Assessment: 7-point scale.
Offered in: Odense.
Subject director:
Associate Professor Ingo Winkler, Institut for Marketing & Management.

Prerequisites:
Students should have knowledge about basic organizational theory and basic theory on organizational behaviour. Especially, students should have an appreciation for the social, political, economic, technological and ideological contexts in organizations, and they must be able to place the organization within the broader culture. Students must have a basic understanding of research methodology in the social sciences and must be able to apply a critical thinking perspective on social science as well as behavioral science.  As the course requires active participation students are expected to work together in different learning situations and to be able master self-organized learning.

Purpose:
It is the aim of the course to provide students with a thorough understanding of current academic theories and discussion of leadership and organizational communication and to develop the students’ competencies to engage in critical and reflective dialogue on these matters. The aim is therefore that the students acquire knowledge about theories of leadership and organizational communication as a multi-faceted, complex entity that is also related to ordinary communication ideals such as integrated communication and corporate communication.

Content - Key areas:
The course gives an in-depth scientific and research-based introduction to basic theories on organizational communication and management in the public and private sectors.

The course includes the following:
  • organizational structure and process,
  • rationality and decision-making,
  • organizational culture(s) and socialisation,
  • organisational identity and identification,
  • relations and networks,
  • management styles and competences,
  • facilitation and participation,
  • power, authority and control,
  • conflict and conflict resolution,
  • change and change communication,
  • organizational communication technologies and diversity and ethics.

Goals description (SOLO taxonomy):
During the course, the student should develop a critical, reflective and contextual understanding of current academic discussion of management and organizational communication.

After the course, the students should therefore be able to elaborate on the application of theory and develop new approaches to the pressing problems in complex organizations.

Specifically, students must be able to:
  • judiciously describe, analyze and put communication problems into perspective in a managerial and organizational context with the help of relevant academic theories and methods,
  • independently systematize complex knowledge on organizational communication and management
  • select and prioritize matters of significance for the subject in question and evaluate theories connected with the discipline in a judicious manner.
  • Account for theories of leadership and organizational communication and engage in critical and reflective discussion on these matters.

Literature:
Examples:
George Cheney, Lars Thøger Christensen, Ted Zorn & Shiv Ganesh (2011), Organizational Communication in Age of Globalization: Issues, Reflections, Practices. 2nd edtion. Waveland Press, Inc., Chicago.
Selected articles giving theoretical background.  A list will be available on the course page in Blackboard.

Time of classes:
Spring.

Scheduled classes:
4 hours in 11 weeks.

Form of instruction:
The students will be trained in applying concepts and theories to relevant and contemporary problems of leadership and organizational communication which they can use throughout their career by examination of various models for leadership and organizational communication as well as methods for organizations to integratively and strategically reach collective goals. Interactive elements like group exercises, group discussions and class room experiments support the students’ learning by training the students in applying their knowledge and skills independently or in groups. Active participation in these elements will support the students in reaching the learning goals in question.

It is expected that the students will use:
Lectures: 44 hours.
Preparation for class and written exam: 226 hours.
In total: 270 hours.

Time of examination:
Ordinary examination in June.
Reexamination in August.

Registration for the course is automatically a registration for the ordinary examination in the course.
Cancellation is not possible.
If the student does not participate in the examination, the student will use an examination attempt.
The university may grant an exemption from the rules in case of exceptional circumstances.

Examination form at the re-exam can be changed.

Examination conditions:
None.

Form of examination for the certificate:
Written exam.

Supplemental information for the form of examination:
Duration: 4 hours written exam.
Location: The examination takes place at SDU. Students using own computers.
Internet access: Necessary.
Hand out: In the examination room.
Hand in: Via SDU-assignment in the course in Blackboard.
Extent: Max. 8 pages, excl. list of references.
Exam aids: All exam aids allowed. It is not allowed to communicate during the exam.

Comments:
Joint lecturing with cand.negot. (course id. 7700391).

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